God and Moon
by Dizzi Penn
Summary: After his fall from grace and the shattered Rainbow Bridge Loki finds himself on Midgard and stumbles upon a curiosity that may have him question what sort of secrets this realm holds./Set after the first Thor movie, and will draw from both movie and comic universe to aid storytelling. Loki/OC
1. Chapter 1

"You know… I'm only telling you any of this because you're my friend."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

"What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you're willing to tell."

"Well then I hope you're comfortable… this one's bound to take a while."

* * *

Music.

Music was the first thing that came to mind. Looking back he would realize it was the first thing that he would clearly remember that day. Foreign music, or at least foreign to him, but music none-the-less. The next thing that he would remember would be how sore he felt, how, how stiff and dead his limbs were, how numb and lead like his arms felt by his side, his legs immobile, his whole being lethargic. He hated this feeling.

Slowly his eyes opened, groggy and his vision slightly blurred, it took him a moment to register completely that he was on his back, staring at the ceiling. Not his ceiling. Shifting slowly, with more effort than he was willing to admit he needed, he propped himself up enough to glance about the room. One sweep was enough to clarify for certain he was not in his bed chambers. Casting his gaze down he found himself in his clothes, filthy though they were; his boots still on his feet were caked with mud, dirt and other earthly debris clung to his garments, all things he found in poor taste. The stale taste of ale lingered in his mouth, causing him to wonder what could have possibly driven him to this place, this very point rather. What had been the cause of over indulgence to such an extreme that it would leave him so incapacitated, and without his wits. But then they came back, the remaining memories, swarming his mind as he let himself fall back on the bed, to stare mindlessly at the ceiling above him, as he felt himself sinking down as everything came crashing in around him once more.

Everything had been a lie.

All of it.

A lie.

A lie intricately spun, so much so, it was almost ageless, this fallacy; all of it woven so deftly by his father-

No.

That man wasn't his father, not truly on any account. Isn't that what he had admitted, just before the Odinsleep took him? Yes.

Loki of Yodenheim had no father, no father that wanted him it seemed. His first true father, unknown and, if any of Odin's words were to be believed, completely devoid of any want or interest in him. To have abandoned a child out in that forsaken frozen wasteland... And the man he had called father all these years? All these centuries, nothing more than a man who found it so easy to keep this simple truth from him. Whatever the old man's reasoning it didn't matter now. No, not in the least. After having gleaned all of this information, and watched Thor's fall and ultimate return to Asgard and his own "demise", while falling from the collapsing bridge; Loki had hidden himself away, seeking out refuge in one of his many hideaways to think, to calm himself, to… grieve?

 _Grieve for what?_ A cynical voice hissed somewhere in his mind. _What did you really lose? Will they grieve you, while you are gone? Will they wonder? That man, will he care where you have gone to when he finally wakes?_

He pushed the voice aside. He bore no true ill will against Thor, always the favorite; no more ill will than he ever had growing up. Even he had been unaware of the old fool's doings. And of his mother…

"... Mother…" Loki dragged his hand over his face.

Sitting up, he tossed all of these noisy thoughts aside, determined to find out where he was. Standing he made his way to the bedroom door, finding it unlocked he pulled it open, finding himself at the end of a dimly lit hallway. He followed the passway, ignoring other doors, heading towards the sound of music that had woken him, until he found himself standing in the threshold of, what appeared to be, the living space of a house. Over by a stove stood a raven haired woman with copper skin, her back to him, completely unaware of him watching her. The stove roared to life, as the blue flames licked at a frying pan she'd just placed on the stove top. She moved down the counter coming to a halt to fuss with something out of his sight, her foot bouncing, shaking her hip to the tempo of the music. On silent feet he approached her, giving a wide berth at first, keeping her back to him as he surveyed her. She was no real threat, he concluded, closing the gap between them in an instant. As she turned to reach for something else she found herself face to face with him, seemingly startled by his looming presence, his eyes peering into her own, his hands clasp behind his back.

"Oh hello!" she blinked rapidly for a moment, dropping whatever it was that had been in her hand. He heard it clattering on the floor, but his gaze remained fixed on her face.

"So you're awake." she began hesitantly. He watched wordlessly as she regained her composure, taking a small step back to regain a preferable space between them as she looked him over. "How are you feeling?"

Loki watched on as she stared at him, waiting. After a moment's thought she turned to the cabinets rifling through the contents there in.

"Would you like something to drink? You're probably thirsty. Would you prefer coffee or tea or...maybe water? Water would probably be best. I have juice too, though." he listened to her prattle on, sitting two mugs on the counter. "I don't really drink coffee myself but I keep it around for guests who do. I have a friend who really likes the way I make it, apparently my batches are really strong, so I don't know if you have a preference…"

Her sentence faded into nothing as she moved around the space. Switching off the stove and moving the pan. The music ceased somewhere behind him, he watched as she came towards him, turning sideways to slip between him and the counter; scampering past a couch she fiddled with some mechanism within a cabinet, and the music came back to life, starting slowly, a fine melody began to flood the room. Sliding past him again, in the similar manner as earlier, he watched as she fetched a container and filled both mugs, finally offering him one.

"It's grape juice." she offered smile on her lips. Loki's gaze slowly lowered to the offered cup, before returning back to her eyes. Oddly colored, hazel things they were, more grey and green than brown.

"Do you even have the slightest inkling of who I am?" he finally spoke.

"Yeah," she sat the cup down and moved away from him to put the juice container away. "I know who you are."

When she turned around she found him there, once again, having appeared behind her, but this time he stood closer leaving no room for her to escape.

"Do you now?" he scoffed.

"Yes. I do." she replied mimicking his tone, a smirk playing at her lips, the emotion going as far as to reflect in her eyes.

"Well then, tell me woman, who am I?"

"Maeve."

"What?"

"My name is Maeve. Not 'woman'."

"Clever name, however, I don't remember asking you for _your_ name. I asked if-"

"You're 'Loki of Asgard! God! Rightful heir to the Asgardian throne, brother of 'that half wit, graceless oaf' Thor.' How's that? Did I get it right?"

Loki stood stunned by what she had just said, certainly not expecting it but his face remained in a mask of practiced indifference.

"Dead ringer is my guess."

"How did you-"

"What, how did I know any of that? We could say I'm smarter than you've clearly given me credit for, you could call it woman's intuition; what it really boils down to is that's what you were drunkenly shouting at the sky when you came stumbling out of nowhere last night, before falling over face first in the snow. I managed to get you in my truck before you became completely useless, thankfully."

"So this a habit of yours, then? Taking strange men you find ambling about home with you, and leaving them in your bed."

"That's the guest bedroom, smartass, and no, I don't. Asgardian demigod or not, you would have frozen your ass off if I'd left you out there last night, especially with how cold it's been getting lately."

"You know, you're very careless." He stated after a moment. They had moved over by the couch now, he having followed her after she'd once again turned her back on him and moved away. She had settled herself on the couch, lounging, positioned just so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, do so lecture me on my carelessness. This should be grand, coming from the man who was having a drunk rave with the sky, out in the snow."

"Jest however you like, I could kill you this very moment if I so wished." he stated simply, leaning over the back of the couch bringing his face level with hers. "For all you know you've let a murderer into your home."

"You're right." she shrugged, the look on her face started out with a hint of indifference, and slowly changed to one of knowing. "You very well could kill me. But you won't."

"False confidence is dangerous." he warned, though his tone took on one of slight playfulness, mocking hers for a turn.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot. But like I said, you're not going to kill me."

"And why, pray tell, would that be?"

"Where are you?"

"Come again?"

"Where. Are. You. Right now, do you even know where you are?" a grin began to bloom across her face as she watched him for a reaction.

"Judging by your home, and 'clothes', if that's what you'd call them," he sniffed giving a passing glance traveling the length of her ending back on her face. "I'd guess… Earth, Midgardian."

"Ooo, clever boy." she taunted, grin still on her face.

"This is not the first time I've been to this world, I-"

"Oh, I know. There are a bunch of stories about you and your 'oaf' brother from back in the days of Vikings and raids and what not." She teased. "The facts though, at present stand, we're miles away from anyone else up here, chances are you'll run into a bear before you run into another human. Or pneumonia." Something small on the coffee table near the couch caught her attention as it emitted a tolling sound. As she turned away from him to reach for it, Loki deftly maneuvered his way over the back of the couch catching her off guard, pinning her the cushions, capturing her hands as he did so, securing her wrists above her head. They both locked gazes with one another, everything else in the room forgotten, the item on the table, the music, all of it was gone except for them and that couch.

"You know, you really shouldn't turn your back to something dangerous."

"No need to worry. If it's not the most dangerous thing in the room." she shot back, hazel eyes burning into his green ones.

"Sharp tongue you have there," he smirked. "Might I do you the favor of cutting it out?" Containing her wrists with one hand, his right jumped back to his hip; his smirk turning to a scowl when his hand did not find what should have been there.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you looking for something? A knife, maybe?" She teased as his scowl deepened for a moment before his face shifted to one of mere annoyance. "I took it off of you when you were unconscious, 'oh dangerous one', just in case you tried to do something stupid while your rationale was out to lunch."

"Clever girl." Loki taunted, shooting back her own words.

"Yes, very. Now would you get off? I'd like to finish making what would have simply been a late breakfast, but has now become lunch.." she stated, bucking her hips in an attempt to throw him off. Loki watched, his eyes beginning to sparkle with amusement as she wriggled underneath him for a moment. She _was_ clever, he'd give her that, and she had a spark to her that was quite amusing, that specific type of trait he had not seen in many of her kind in his trips to Earth. But then again he had not been to this place in quite sometime, many things had changed. Shifting, he maneuvered to his feet, standing beside the couch he offered his hand to Maeve. His smirk deepened as he watched her eye him curiously.

"Oh what? Now we're cautious?"

"You sat on me and threatened to cut out my tongue." She stated flatly before placing her hand in his, upon which he pulled her to her feet in one swift gesture. "So excuse me, if I start pondering whether or not to take your hand, oh moody and mischievous one."

Loki merely chuckled as she walked past him and back into the kitchen, retrieving dishes and cutlery from the cabinets and setting them out. Sticking her head into the fridge she rooted around, coming out with a few extra eggs and what appeared to be a pack containing bacon.

"I'm assuming you like bacon and eggs, right? At least I hope you do. I'm sure they have that where you come from. Though I'm not sure of your alcohol tolerance, are you hungover? If so I've got some bread, maybe toast would be better." Loki said nothing as he watched her set about everything on the counter. She glanced over at him and when he remained silent, Maeve merely shrugged, placing the extra items back in the fridge and proceeded to prepare eggs for herself. Taking out a smaller pan she quickly whipped together four eggs, a moment later they sat scrambled and steaming on her plate. Moving to the microwave she pulled out a plate of bacon that had been keeping warm, plucking off a few pieces and sitting them on the edge of her plate, placing another in her mouth to munch on as she pulled up a stool to the counter and sat down to her food.

"Bacon?" she offered after a long stretch of silence, pushing the plate towards him. Loki looked down his nose at her as she ate, glaring at the plate of bacon as though it had personally insulted him.

"No."

"Fine," she simply shrugged. Getting to her feet she took the plate moving to place it back in the microwave. "More for me then."

"Enough of this." In an instant Loki had advanced, pinning Maeve against the counter, an arm on either side so she couldn't escape. "I tire of this nonsense. I grow tired of _you_." he spat out, his eyes narrowing as they burned into her own. Though his face did not show it, he found it annoyed him greatly that she seemed unbothered by his closeness nor his threatening demeanor, all of which he chalked up to Midgardian over confidence. Maeve was obviously in quite good health, from what he could tell based off of what she wore, she was well toned and clearly athletic to some degree. All things considered, though, she was still nothing more than a mortal, her potential aside, she was fragile just like the lot of them.

She was nothing.

"Don't worry the feeling's mutual. I'm starting to think someone needs to be put down for a nap. How about it? Is that what you need Mr. Grumpy Guss?"

At her taunt Loki's temper ignited. The plate of bacon shattering as it crashed to the floor, he having slapped it from her hand as he roared in her face. "Woman! I am a GOD! It would behoove you greatly not to mock me! I'm sure the magnitude of what I truly am must be too vast a concept for your feeble mind to wrap itself around, but heed my words, I can kill you where you stand and it would not mean anything more to me that the act of treading on an ant."

Maeve was not looking at him. Her eyes had focused on the fragments of plate on the floor, a strange distant look coming over her eyes. When she did finally turn to look back at him, something in those odd colored eyes had changed.

"That, was an unnecessary waste of good bacon."

"Stupid woman," Loki scoffed. "I-"

"You want to play a game?"

"What?" a look of genuine confusion crossed his face, the turn in the conversation catching him completely of guard. So much so he was starting to wonder if this Midgardian female was ill or merely deranged.

"You heard me, Master of Chaos. Do you want to play a game?" a smirk meandered its way across Maeve's face as she continued to watch him, that strange look still present in her eyes. Without waiting for him to respond she continued. "It's quite simple really. I'm sure even you can grasp it. All you have to do, is guess what I am; you get three guesses, simple as that. You guess right you get to stay, you guess wrong you have to leave. Simple, easy and to the point. So what do you say?"

"What do I say?" Loki sneered at her. "I say you're clearly a mad woman with some sort of death wish to come up against someone with such immense power as myself. You're obviously a misguided fool to think that I would waste my time placating you with such a imbecilic venture as to join you in a 'simple game' as you so put, merely for your own asinine amusement. No, you know what you really are? You're a pathetically weak mortal from whom I shall gain immense pleasure as I wring the very last insolent breath from your frail little body and snuff your futile existence from this sad and feeble little world you call home."

"That's three."

Loki opened his mouth to retort, but found he never got the chance as a sharp pain exploded in the side of his head and everything went dark.

When he awoke, again, he once more found himself on his back, hands neatly folded over his chest, though this time he was cold. Bolting upright he found himself outside, snow soaking into his clothes as he lay on the ground. He found his head still swimming some as he slowly eased himself up and onto his feet.

What in the nine realms had just happened? He remembered it all, how he was practically one smartass remark of hers away from choking the life out of that woman and now he was here. She clearly had attacked him. _But_ _how_ _?_ The voice in his mind hissed, their shared ego clearly bruised. How could she have gotten so much of the upper hand? He hadn't even seen her move. _That must be it, there must have been someone else in the house with her. Someone unnoticed. Obviously they heard the commotion and somehow managed to sneak up behind you._ Yes, obviously; but even he was having a hard time convincing himself of this completely.

" _...The facts though, at present stand, we're miles away from anyone else up here, chances are you'll run into a bear before you run into another human..."_ her words came back to him now. No. She was alone. It had just been the two of them in that house, and somehow she'd overpowered him.

" _...No need to worry. If it's not the most dangerous thing in the room..."_ he paused. Those words… earlier he'd merely disregarded them as bluster, overconfidence in her ability to deal with him; as much as he was loathed to admit it, he'd been wrong. He'd underestimated her and she knew it.

" _...All you have to do, is guess what I am; you get three guesses, simple as that…."_ What was she? This thought was the loudest that circled through his brain. What in the nine realms was that woman?

As his thoughts had wandered, so hand he, his meandering bringing him to the crest of a hill, below it stood a lone house, smoke curling lazily out of the chimney, looking every bit the picturesque scene of a warm refuge in frozen surroundings. The warm light from its windows casting a soft glow on the blanket of snow outside, its smoothness only interrupted by a trail of tracks leading away from it, a faint one leading to and from the shed, and a second, deeper set, that moved up the hill near where he stood and back into the woods behind him. On the couch arranged perpendicular to the large sliding doors, _she_ sat. Curled up with a book and a blanket, looking as though she had no care in the world as the sun began to dip towards the horizon.

Loki had no idea how long he'd been out for and at this particular juncture he didn't care. As he stood there, in the thick blanket of snow, his feet sinking ever deeper, the only thing he found himself caring about was that woman. Though be it in the most unconventional of ways, she had sparked a curiosity in him that he had not experienced in quite some time he realized as he stood watching, waiting, thinking. If there was one thing Loki enjoyed more than simply causing random bits of chaos here and there, it was a good puzzle, and when you were as old as he was, well a really good, truly interesting puzzle came around very rarely indeed. Before him, in that house, tucked away, out seemingly in the middle of nowhere, sat a very intriguing puzzle. He watched as she got to her feet, moving around the couch she came to the large doors, taking in the landscape. Whether or not she saw him he couldn't tell as he watched her close the curtains, but he found he was determined to satisfy the nagging growing inside of him.

"What are you?"

* * *

 _I may or may not have broken a little personal rule, about not wanting to post new stories until one is completed, but it's been years and this one, much like many others have been sitting on my computer just dying to be shared. So I did it anyway. Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, please feel free to review, I look forward to chatting with all of you about it! :)_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Morning.

Like many before it, it began with the shrill chirping of her alarm clock, a sound that seemed to be more unnecessary than normal as it's tolling had found Maeve already awake, having been unable to return to sleep some hour or so before. Silencing it she kicked off the thick warm covers and proceeded around her room in the usual routine of prepping for the day; undressing, dressing, into the bathroom to brush her teeth, all done like clockwork to where once her brain caught up with her she found herself leaning against the kitchen counter pondering what to do for food.

"Let's see, could have bacon and eggs again, or bacon and jam toast." she muttered to herself as peered into the fridge. "I do have sausage though… Sausage, eggs, and jam toast it is then." Decision made she set about putting things in motion, her stereo coming to life filling the house with a swelling orchestral piece.

" _That, was an unnecessary waste of good bacon."_ A frown crossed her face as she spied the pieces of broken ceramic in the trash can. Sighing and shaking her head, Maeve chose to busy herself than to be distracted by thoughts of the Asgardian asshole that she had kicked out of her home. Try as she might though it was becoming increasingly difficult to completely pretend that yesterday didn't happen. Settling on the couch with her food she silenced the stereo, opting for the tv as a way to distract herself, finding some documentary about ocean life to do the trick. For a little bit anyway. Pretty soon she found her mind returning to the same line of thought and changing to the weather channel didn't help either, especially with the local forecast claiming that it was suppose to be even chillier than it had been the night before, with the potential for asinine amounts of snow.

She wasn't sure that she could call it conscience or just an unfounded hope that her brain would stop pestering her that drove her to her next action, either way she found herself up and in the kitchen again. Grumbling she went in to the pantry and rooting around until she found all that she needed, laying everything out on the countertop before she set to work. She was pretty certain that there would come a point where she would regret this decision, she only hoped that when that revelation occurred it wasn't the last thought she had.

* * *

The night had gone... well. Miserable, if it were compared to what he was typically accustomed to, but he'd managed just fine. No thanks to that woman.

 _"Maeve."_ Loki growled as her voice made itself known in his head. He had returned to his spot from the day before, atop the hill he stood watching her small house as it slowly woke with the day signaling that she now moved about within. She had opened the large curtains, staring out of the large windows before moving out of sight, only to return to the couch with what looked like her breakfast. The sight of which set his stomach to growling, as it chose then to remind him of how long it had been since he had tasted food himself, a thought that only seemed to make him angrier.

 _Why are you standing out here like some fool? You have both the power and the ability to go in there and take what it is you need. All of what you require, and more if you so desired._ the voice in his mind hissed. _What is it that you are waiting for? Go in there and be done with this place._ He knew it was right, that whole line of thought was correct. He could go in there take what he needed and be off, bruised pride at her having gotten the upper hand on him even demanded it, and yet, he knew he wouldn't. Because right now pride was warring with curiosity and his capricious nature practically demanded he not leave until he had for himself the answer to the question she had posed him yesterday.

 _"...What am I?"_

He was shaken from his musing by a sound coming from the house. His gaze fell to the back door that now stood ajar. Then _she_ came into sight, standing in the doorway with a cover draped over her shoulders. He watched, unseen, having cloaked himself with a spell of invisibility as she glanced about. After a moment she shrugged off the cover, tossing it aside somewhere behind her before donning a jacket. She made her way to the shed and began trekking back and forth with arm fulls of wood.

As abruptly as she had started it all seemed to wrap up. Satisfied with what she'd brought in the house Loki expected to watch her simply shut herself back into her home, to disappear again from sight, leaving him to plot his next move. So when he saw her hesitating in the doorway, his interest was rekindled, as she stared at something he couldn't see inside the house. Once more she vanished inside, leaving the door ajar, but soon returned, a basket on her arm.

Again, she cast her gaze all around, almost as if she knew she was being watched but wasn't quite sure where from. For a moment she stared in his direction and if he hadn't known any better, Loki would have swore she looked directly at him.

 _Don't be absurd! That mortal cannot possibly detect you, no mortal could, cloaked as you are._ Certainly, the voice was right. However this woman had already proven she was not what she seemed to be, at least not completely.

Eventually she appeared to remember the basket on her arm, for she stopped her searching and set about whatever it was she had planned to do. Clearing the few remaining fragments of wood from the large log she used for splitting, she carefully placed the basket on top, making sure it was good and stable before taking a step back. Loki could read the indecision in her body language, the moment she seemed to finally make up her mind was as clear and obvious as if someone had simply turned on a light as she straightened her shoulders and walked back into the house, locking the door soundly behind her.

Loki waited.

He wanted to know what was in that basket, but if there was one thing he had crafted over these centuries is was a great wealth of self control. For how could one possibly hope to exert control over others, if one did not have control over oneself? To wield such a level of power, the power over others, could easily drive a weaker man to a breaking point, were they not properly in control of themselves. Madness, ruin, a lack of self control could cost one everything; it cost him nothing to wait. And so, wait, he did.

When he finally did come down from his post, appearing next to the basket while still hidden from sight by magic, much time had passed. Loki regarded the rather plain looking basket for a moment before finally lifting the lid. A slow devious smile spread across his face as his mind began crafting a rather intricate plan. Yes, it would seem getting what he wanted would be much easier than anticipated, but more excitingly, it looked like this was going to be fun.

* * *

This went on for three days.

For three days, like clockwork, Maeve would leave the basket and would return later throughout the day, each time finding the contents gone. Then came the fourth day, like the other before it, Maeve left the basket after lugging in a few more armfuls of wood. When she returned at midday to fetch it, however, she found everything as it had been earlier; the food was completely untouched, even the thermos she had filled with hot tea was full. Without much of a second thought she carried the basket back inside, bolting the door behind her.

Once in the kitchen she sat the basket on counter and began unpacking it, putting the perishable portions in the fridge, fruit went back into the bowl on the counter, and dry packaged things back into the pantry. The tea she drank herself, after adding copious amounts of sugar to it. She typically preferred something sweeter, but had assumed that he wouldn't have cared for something like that. He didn't exactly strike her as someone who had a sweet tooth.

 _Him. Loki._ Well it seemed that the Asgardian prima donna had decided it was time to move on. A thought she eventually shrugged off as she settled herself back on her couch with a blanket and a book, quickly losing herself into the fantastical world within the well loved pages.

Loki had watched her come to collect the basket, once again hidden from sight by his magic. As she had turned toward the house he followed behind her and while she moved into kitchen, unpacking everything and putting it back in its proper place he roamed around. Peering inside doors in the hallway that were open he confirmed his earlier suspicions, she did indeed live alone. But this answer merely added more to the steadily growing list; instead of a _what_ it was a _why_.

 _Why_ did she live alone?

He'd assumed mortals to be relatively social creatures in his experience, they typically clumped together for a sense of safety, though there were bound to be anomalies, those who lived on the fringes of whatever was that current era's "society". But even in those cases there was some sort of benefit to the outlier, farmland called for space, as did cattle and livestock and other such enterprises but none of those appeared to be a factor with this woman. By all appearances she lived out here for the sheer sake of isolation. Which nicely brought everything back to the initial question of _why_?

 _Why do you bother yourself with this? You have other things to deal with, more_ important _things! Or did you already forget what they did to you back in Asgard?_ Loki silenced the dissenting voice in the back of his mind. The wounds were still fresh, he didn't need a constant reminder of what had befallen him; even without its assistance he doubted he would forget anytime soon the wrong he'd been done.

Hours ticked by as he watched her. She didn't seem bothered by much, she looked rather content to squander the hours of sunlight on her book, pausing occasionally for a trip to the restroom or to retrieve a snack for herself. Eventually though she stretched and left the book on the coffee table, after another full stretch, he watched her get to her feet and start moving about.

Maeve gave a lazy yawn as she found her shoes, keys and phone. She'd put off going into town long enough for the day and she needed to get a move on if she wanted to actually have the will to make an 'actual' dinner tonight. Gathering up her things she slipped her arms in to her coat as she gave the kitchen a cursory glance to try and see if she needed anything else while she was out. Scribbling down a quick list she made her way out to the garage, hopping into her truck and headed out. It wasn't so much that she "hated" going in to town, she didn't mind it, the drive wasn't too bad, much longer than most were willing to deal with but she enjoyed it. Her main hesitation this time had been the fact that the crap weather that the weather man had been promising would happen days prior had supposedly finally decided to show it's ugly face later tonight and if she didn't make the run for a few extra things tonight chances were she wasn't going to get out until the snow cleared itself or the plows eventually made it to the main road near her house.

She made good time however, just an hour and some change later she pulled into the small town, quickly finding a spot to park near the store and making her way inside. She bobbed up and down the different aisles, gathering items on her list as well as few other things to treat herself. Checkout was just as quick and painless, having managed to get the quiet shy one instead of the elderly lady who practically demanded to know everything about everyone out of "the kindness of her own heart"; Maeve had even managed to make it back to her truck without any of the usual incidents or run ins, she thought as she opened the hatch.

"Maeve!" _Well... almost._ Maeve thought cringing inwardly as she pasted on a smile she didn't particularly feel before turning to greet the middle aged woman who was steadily approaching.

"Mrs. Cooper, hi."

"It is you! I thought it was, I was just telling myself, 'I haven't seen Maeve around in such a long time.' It really has been a while dear, if we didn't know any better we'd have thought you'd frozen yourself to death up there in that place. Anyway I had just turned to Frank and said, 'Frank you know maybe you or one of the boys should go check up on Maeve, it's been such a long time since we've seen her-' Frank! Frank, see I told you it was Maeve's truck! Old fool didn't believe me, I've been telling him he should get his eyes checked." Having waited patiently for her to finish loading her groceries, Mrs. Cooper had looped her arm around Maeve's before she could manage to interrupt her long enough to make an excuse to leave, steering her in the direction of their store.

"Anyway as I was saying, right as I finished saying that, just what should I happen to look up and see? That truck of yours parked across the way at the grocers. Now Frank, he told me to bother with it, he says 'Loads of people have that model Mabel, leave well enough alone', but you know me. Once I get something in my mind, I'm like a bulldog. 'Ole Bulldog Mabel', that's what my nan used to call me, or 'May the Bull'. You know how family is. Frank, Frank see it told you it was Maeve's truck and look she's come to pay us a visit! Oh now do wait here dear, I've got something for you in the back if you can just hang tight for a second. Now don't go talkin' her ear off Frank, I'll be back in a jiffy!" Mabel patted Maeve's hand before finally relinquishing the death grip she'd had on it, before bustling off to the back of the store, leaving Maeve at the counter with her husband.

"I'm sorry about that Maeve, you know how she gets." Frank gave an apologetic smile as the two of them shared a mutual look of understanding.

"No sweat, I actually needed to stop by anyway. I placed some orders about a week ago, I was wondering if anything came in."

"Right, right. I've got it all back in the office. I'll go back and grab it while you get what you need."

"Thanks, I really do appreciate you guys holding stuff here for me."

"No worries. I know how those shipping fees get." Frank waved over his shoulder as he wandered off to the office. While left alone Maeve moved aimlessly up and down the short aisles, picking up random odds and ends that she needed around the house. By the time she had made her way back to the counter Frank had taken back up his post behind the counter, with a stack of boxes stacked on the end.

"Looks like you had a few more back there than I remember." He smiled patting the largest one before taking the hand basket from Maeve and began ringing her up. "Alright we're all set to go here it looks like. That reminds me, when was the last time you had that generator of yours checked out? I've been meaning to call you about it what with this cold snap that's suppose to be coming."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. But if you're out my way I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a look at it. But only if you're out my way and I mean that."

"Bah it's nothing for me to stop by you know that. Now it's best you sneak on out of here while the misses is distracted or else you'll never leave-"

"Maeve! Dear! Here you are," as if on cue Mrs. Cooper reappeared with a small box full of baked goods. "I found myself baking the other day and just went and made way too much and what with Frank suppose to be watching his sweets and what not I figured I'd give the extra to the boys but neither Ethan or Chris seem to really be as in to sweets as they used to so I figured since you liked sweets so much that you'd like to have them. That way I can at least know that they'll be enjoyed by someone." Maeve offered a reassuring smile as she took the box from Mrs. Cooper, stacking it on top of the others to carry it out to her truck.

"Thanks, both of you, for everything. But I really should get going."

"You sure? Why don't you stay for dinner dear?"

"Now Mabel, I'm sure Maeve wants to get back before it gets too dark. Plus she's got those groceries in her car, wouldn't want those to spoil now." Frank added before Mabel could even offer for Maeve to stay the night, as she did almost every time she saw her in town.

"Oh well, alright." The older woman finally conceded, as she watched Maeve ready herself to go. "Now wait a minute, you're not carrying all those out there buy yourself! Hold on just a second, let me go get Ethan to help you with that."

"No, wait Mrs. Cooper, really you don't need-" but she was already gone. Heaving a rather heavy sigh Maeve slumped against the wall nearest the counter. Eyeing the tower of boxes she wondered how far she would manage to get to before Mabel made it back. As if reading her mind Frank merely shook his head as he chuckled.

"I'm sorry about that kiddo, you know how she gets. Might as well just ride this one out too, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Maeve huffed. A second later Mabel could be heard coming from the back of the store her eldest grandson, Ethan in tow.

"Now, Ethan be a dear and help Maeve get these things to her truck please. It's such a shame you won't be joining us for dinner dear, maybe next time then. Have a safe drive back and do call every once in awhile so that we know you're alright, you know I do worry about you up there by yourself. You should really consider getting a roommate or something, just someone so you're not by yourself so much-"

"Bye Maeve." Frank interrupted his wife, waving the young woman out the door as he ignored the glare he was certain he'd be receiving from his wife. Maeve took her cue and slipped out the door, Ethan following just a few steps behind her. The pair walked in silence to where she'd parked, the quiet continuing as she unlocked and opened the door to the back seat to securely place the boxes in the back.

"Like Nan said, it's a shame you can't stay for dinner."

"Thanks Ethan for getting the stuff to my car. I need to go now."

"Need to?"

"Yes. 'Need to'."

"Look me and some friends are planning on heading into the city-"

"Ethan I've got ice cream in my trunk, I really should get going." She slipped inside the driver's seat, intent on shutting the door before he could get a word in edgewise when he caught the door. She locked eyes with him, a warning in them that matched the tone in her voice. "Ethan."

"I'll see you around." Was all he added before shutting the door and stepping back as she started her truck. He stood there watching her as she back out of the spot and pulled off down the road. It wasn't until Maeve reached the intersection outside of town, slowing to a stop at the red light, that she let out the pent up shriek, slamming her hands against the steering wheel, until she slumped forward with a huff, resting her head on the wheel as she waited for the light to change.

To say that she and Ethan had a rocky past would have been a severe understatement. She wouldn't have used to the word "hate" to describe the feeling she had towards Ethan but it wasn't too far off. They had gotten along well enough when they'd been younger, in that way that most children do when interacting with other kids when they're the only other child around. But as they had grown older he had begun to rub her the wrong way, and it only became worse with time. At first she hadn't been sure what it was, eventually she realized it was a combination of things; his attitude, aspects of his personality, things he said and did, the way he treated others, the list went on and on. Suffice to say he wasn't her favorite person in town. Things between them had been relatively bearable, well liveable, until Mrs. Cooper had gotten it into her mind that they would have been "sweet together". She wasn't even sure where the older woman had gotten the idea, though a tiny part of her had a strong suspicion it had something to do with Ethan, as he seemed all too willing to go along with it. It had become this annoying sort of song and dance for them, him advancing and pursuing while she deftly avoided and out maneuvered him, while other times she merely bluntly shot him down. It was one of the reasons she didn't like coming into town, it was so small that if she managed to make it in and out without incident it was a miracle.

Soon enough she had made it home. Pulling into the garage set her mind to the task of unloading her car and putting everything in its proper place unaware of the invisible unwavering gaze of a certain demi-god.

Still cloaked by his magic Loki had witnessed everything, her trip out, the purchased goods, the elderly couple, everything. He'd been amused at how she had seemed to bristle in the presence of the other mortal named Ethan, her demeanor changing at the initial mention of his name and had found her explosive tantrum on the way home quite entertaining as well. Still these things had not really shed any light on why she chose to live so far away from others, however, he did believe that keeping her distance from this Ethan played a part in it. Loki grinned to himself as he pondered what he had seen today, making minor adjustments to his initial plan. This was going to be fun.

Maeve had just put the last of everything away when she looked at the clock. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she shook her head; she had intended to actually cook something for dinner tonight, but with the way things had gone she didn't feel like it, she didn't have the energy and she felt a bit of a headache brewing. Grumbling under her breath she threw something simple together out of what she already had in her fridge, thankful for the last steak that was in the fridge adding some pasta with it. Warming them up she settled herself on the couch to watch tv, a glass of wine added to everything as she decided to indulge herself a little. Before long dinner was done, dishes cleaned up and the tv was substituted with the stereo as she poured herself another glass. Maybe she'd continue treating herself tonight, maybe a bubble bath would sort out the knots in her shoulders and then there was the ice cream that now beaconed her from the freezer, she could start in the strawberry one, she hadn't had that in a long time. She smiled to herself, lost in thought, yes tonight she'd pamper herself, she certainly deserved it.

Maeve was mid drink when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, feeling suddenly on edge. Spinning around her gaze went straight to the window, half of her expecting to see a certain nuisance on the other side, but she saw nothing. Something shifted to her periphery and she swung out at it only to find it moved, an instant later she found herself grappling with someone only to end up on her stomach, the wind rushing out of her when she hit the floor, as her hands were restrained behind her back. Craning her neck she attempted to catch a glimpse of her captor's face though she already had a pretty good idea who it was.

"I really must thank you. The food you provided, though not what I am accustomed to, certainly was a benefit." She could feel his breath at her ear as he leaned close after having effectively pinning her to the floor, she could practically hear the grin that was certainly painted across his face.

"You!" She hissed, straining to get out from under him, which only seemed to provide him amusement. "Get off of me! Right now, or I swear I'll-"

In a flash Maeve found herself flipped over on her back, hands still secured in his iron grip, his green eyes burning into her as he looked down his nose at her as he straddled her.

"Or you'll what?" He spat. In blink their faces were a breath apart as he stared her down. "What is it that you intend to do, hmm? Scream? No one will hear you. Fight me off? Woman we both can clearly see that that is not going to happen." She glared up at Loki, her mouth opened for a second before she snapped it shut, the act earning a satisfied grin from him as she appeared to be realizing her situation. But something else caught his attention, something shifted in her eyes, they seemed to grow darker with intent, of what he could not be sure for as quickly as it was there it was gone as she screwed her eyes shut. It seemed almost as if she were fighting something, not him, and not the sense of panic he had hoped to instill in her, but something else much more volatile he surmised as her body started trembling violently beneath him. As abruptly as it had begun, she stilled, letting out a long breath she opened her eyes, determination laced with an underlying anger evident in them as she met his gaze again.

"Get. Out."

"No."

"Get out of my house, now, or-"

"Or what? You seem so fond of making promises you have no way of fulfilling."

"I threw you out of my house once and I _can_ and _will_ do it again. I'm offering you a chance to leave now, on your own." Sitting back Loki regarded her for a moment. His face was an unreadable mask, leaving Maeve in the dark as to what he was thinking, but she couldn't bring herself to care right now. He had invaded her space and she wanted him gone.

"About that, I'm not sure how you managed it, but I will say that I can guarantee it won't happen again."

"You sure about that?" She sniped, having turned her head away from him, her annoyance and dislike of him evident on her face.

"Yes." He hissed, enclosing her hands in one of his, he freed his other to hold her chin, forcing her to look at him. "And unlike you I'm in a position to actually carry out my promises." He smirked as he let her go, completely relinquishing his hold on her as he leaned back again, resting on his haunches but not moving from on top of her. "Besides, I find that I may have use for you yet."

Maeve jerked forward in an attempt to sit up, only to find her hands still restrained above her head. Twisting she looked back at her hands, they appeared free but though she did almost everything within her power to move them they remained stuck. Turning her attention back to Loki he merely smirked having enjoyed watching her figure things out.

"What do you want?" She bit out through gritted teeth.

"You are familiar with this area correct." It wasn't a question.

"Get off of me and I'll let you know."

"Woman-"

"Maeve!"

"Woman!" He barked, his anger flashing across his features. "My patience wears thin with your insolence."

"Your patience!?" Maeve raged back. "You just attacked me in my home, you pompous git! I welcomed you into my home once and you threatened me, and now you have the nerve to do it a second time! I was thoroughly enjoying my evening before you decided to make an appearance! A perfectly good evening ruined, so don't talk to me about patience!"

"Are you quite finished?" A look of boredom had come over his face as he had let her vent. "As I was saying before your hysterics, I find I have a use for you-"

"Go to hell!"

"Silence!" Loki roared, his fist slammed into the floor near her head as he brought their faces close again. She didn't even flinch, merely glared back at him. "You know this place. You will take me back to where you first discovered me and should it please me I will not kill you but instead leave you to your pathetic existence in this hoval on this primitive rock." He got to his feet, leaving her still restrained by his magic as he walked away from her. Silence stretched on between them as he stood with his back to her, waiting, counting the seconds as she weighed her options until she would finally relent. He knew she would, he planned for her to, all of this orchestrated to get what he wanted. What he didn't expect was to hear laughter coming from behind him. Turning on his heal he cut his eyes at her.

"And what, pray thee, is so funny?"

"You need my help." Maeve finally managed between gasps as she was taken over by a fit of laughter. His words had danced around in her mind, she hadn't missed a one, the insults would be ignored but not missed. But the realization she had come to had been the cause of her current state. "The great Loki of Asgard needs my help! Oh my well isn't this just the bee's knees."

He had moved back beside her, looking down the length of his nose at her as tears began to pour down the side of her face from her laughter. Kneeling next to her he sneered. "I knew you mortals were weak, but this is just pathetic. While I must admit I expected more whimpering and pleading for your life, these hysterics are certainly interesting in their own right. Is this how you choose to cope with your potential fate?"

"Oh please." Maeve snorted at him as her most recent wave of laughter subsided to the occasional chuckle. "You can huff and puff all you want, but I was right. You haven't the foggiest clue about where you are, you need me, and you figure coming in here all high and mighty, guns blazing, is going to get me to give you the help you need. The very same help I was more than willing to give you just a few days ago, mind you, without the need for all of this fanfare, that's what makes this amusing."

His eyes narrowed as he regarded her, laying there smirking up at him. Standing he moved away from her again, Maeve could hear him on the other side of the island but from where she lay couldn't actually see him until he rounded the counter again. In his hand was one of her wine glasses which he inspected with a vague look of disinterest. Plucking the open bottle of wine from the counter top he leaned against it as he poured himself a glass before walking away from her and settling himself in one of her armchairs, unsurprisingly taking the one with the high back.

"And exactly what do you think you're doing?"

"I believe, it's called "sitting", even here in this world." He answered dismissively as he took a sip from his glass.

"Uh huh. Why?"

"I could kill you," Loki began, ignoring her snort from across the room. "But I won't. I could make you do as I wish, force you to succumb to my will, it would be easy enough, but I won't."

"And what, you're expecting, congratulations or some sort of outpouring of my undying gratitude?"

"What I will do however," he continued as though he didn't even hear her. "Is wait. I can assure you as much as you want to be rid of me, I wish to be rid of this place. You mortals are amusing, but only in short controlled bursts, I do not wish to spend more time amongst you than I absolutely must. That being said, I'm sure that you will eventually see things my way, I simply have to bide my time." With that he took another drink.

Maeve eyed him suspiciously from the other side of the room, unsure how to take this suddenly more reserved and calmed version that sat across the room from her. The silence stretched out between them as they seemed to both be taking stock of everything that had been said as well as everything that had been left unsaid. He truly looked content to just sit there and watch her, and that's when the realization hit her; he intended to leave her there as she was, bound to the floor, stuck, trapped while he moved freely about her house, doing as he pleased. The smirk blooming across his face as he watched her only further confirmed her thoughts. He knew she had figured out what he meant to do to her and seemed to be enjoying watching her squirm. She refused to give him the satisfaction of having her plead for her release, choosing to instead to stare at the ceiling as the silence continued to stretch on between them only the music coming from the stereo cutting through it.

"You can't seriously be considering leaving me here like this?" She finally broke the silence after a time, shifting slightly to try and provide some relief to her shoulders. While it seemed that only her wrists where restrained, the position they were being held in was starting to become rather uncomfortable. The once only vaguely stiff muscles in her neck and shoulders had long sense ceased up, clenching so tightly that it would take hours to undo the knots on her own, unless she went and got a professional massage.

"Oh I fully intend to." His glass had long since been emptied, though now he toyed with it, rolling the stem back and forth between his fingers.

Maeve huffed as she turned her eyes back to the ceiling. "I can't believe this. I'm being held hostage by a fairy tale."

"I am many things, a make believe tale is not one of them." Loki's eyes narrowed at her.

"That's what you think. Not meaning to burst your bubble friend, but uh, no one's seen hide nor hair of you guys around for centuries. You're just legends. Well, Thor is a legend, you're kind of a footnote, just a collection of stories about how you're essentially a pain in the ass, with the occasional lapse of judgment that makes you kind of relatable and almost likeable, but still mostly an ass." Others in her position might have tried to placate him with kind words, not Maeve though. The way she saw it, she'd be literally stuck no matter what she did so she chose to speak her mind and stick with bluntness. Maeve gestured as best she could towards her bookshelf. "You can read them if you want, I've got books for days, some of them on you guys, others like you; to most people on this planet you're just a fantastical story. Even if I somehow managed to even get a hold of anyone and told them that Loki of Asgard was holding me hostage in my own home I'd be laughed off the phone or carted off to the nut house."

Loki's gaze strayed from her to the bookshelf, scanning the spines before turning it back to her. "And what of you, woman? What is it you believe?"

"Doesn't matter what I believe." She made a gesture that in her current condition could have been considered a shrug. He did not miss the wince on her face as her muscles complained at the movement.

"Oh come now, you must believe something. It's one of the few things that you mortals do best, believe in something outside of yourself, something bigger, far more beyond your understanding." He grinned getting to his feet, walking over to the bookshelf now to better inspect her books. "You wish to know why that is? It's because a long time ago your ancestors encountered something bigger than them, stronger than them, that brought them cowering to their knees. And why not? It is in your nature to do such, to succumb to something much greater than you, instinct tells you that it is in your best interest to do so." Maeve watched as he plucked a book from the shelf, inspecting its cover before thumbing through it with vague interest. "Whether you wish to admit it right now that very instinct is within you, it's that little voice in the back of your head telling you to submit, to give in, because in doing so you secure your survival."

He turned to look at her, that cocky smirk still plastered on his face. "As I'm sure you can imagine, I never have truly cared for the company of your kind, you are depressingly weak, fragile, though I must say I did find it quite tolerable when your kind treated mine as the gods we rightly are."

"My kind." Maeve hurumphed. "You know nothing of _my kind_." There it was again. That tone, that slight change in the way she said certain things, it stirred up memories of the question she had asked him a few days ago. _What am I?_ Somewhere in the house a clock tolled the late hour. A moment later a ringing of a different kind was heard, calling both of their attention from each other. From her place on the floor Maeve twisted herself as best as she could to try and see the phone on the corner of the kitchen counter. Loki watched as she struggled again before her eyes shot back to him.

"I have to get that." He said nothing, one eyebrow raising was his only reaction to her words as the phone chimed a second time.

"Let me up!"

"No."

"You don't understand I- ugh! I don't have time to explain! I need to get that before it stops ringing!" A growl of frustration hissed its way out of her as Loki merely shrugged in response to her words, feigning to be more interested in the book in his hands than her. "Don't ignore me! Hey! Dammit, if I don't answer that me being a nuisance will be the least of your worries. Others will come, they'll come here for me, very quickly I might add."

Loki simply shrugged again, licking his thumb and forefinger before turning a page. "Matters not to me."

"Oh yeah, Mr. I-can't-stand-the-company-of-mortals! This place will be crawling with them."

"So?" He gave her a bored look. "None of them hold the information that I seek, dispatching them will be easy enough, like treading on ants. Let's be honest, the only one who will feel anything for their deaths will be you, especially since it all could have easily been avoided."

Maeve opened her mouth to snap back when the phone stopped ringing. Twisting herself she kicked out at the island angrily, a cry of frustration on her lips, but it was the sound of her kick that had drawn Loki's attention. He chuckled to himself, by sound of things she probably did more damage to herself than the counter. Her frustration was starting to get the better of her judgment as he watched her wildly kick again.

"Gah! I'm tired of everyone fucking with my life! I just want to be left alone!" She yelled at no one in particular. Maeve pulled her arms forward, closing them around her face as she let out a small whimper, while kicking her feet against the floor. She didn't care if she appeared to be childlike at the moment. She just wanted to be left alone, was that too much to ask?

As if to prove that it was, the phone began to ring again. She glared at the ceiling before letting out a breath. She could hear the soft turning of the pages coming from the other side of the room.

"Loki." It was the use of his name that drew his attention. It was the first time since he'd reappeared in her house that she had actually addressed him by his name.

"I'll help you." She began her voice low, before turning to finally look at him. "Let me up so I can answer the phone and I'll help you get back to where I found you so you can leave." He regarded her for a moment, then with that smirk from earlier on his face his hand gave a dismissive wave. Immediately she felt the pressure release from her wrists. Rolling on to her side Maeve quickly got to her feet and grabbed the phone before it could cease ringing a second time.

"Hello. ...What? No, everything's fine. … I was outside, I didn't hear it ring." She turned her back to Loki as she spoke, not to hide what she said but so she wouldn't have to look at him. In turn Loki regarded her from the corner of his eye, the book forgotten as he listened to her side of the conversation. "Yeah well, I appreciate the concern. … Oh come on, you know I didn't mean it like that it's just- Look we've been over this. … I know, I know... I'm good where I am now, that's all. … And that's all I ask. … Fair enough, I'll try to call more often, no promises, just I'll try. … Yeah, yeah. Thanks Hank, really. ...Bye." her shoulders sagged as she returned to the phone to its dock, a small smile playing at her lips, before she turned around to finally face Loki only to find he had closed the gap between them.

"What?" She spat, her dislike at his apparent disregard for personal boundaries evident on her face.

"I held up my end, now it is time for you to come through on yours." He stated simply as he gazed down his nose at her.

"And I will," she pushed past him moving towards the back of her house.

"You will, now." There was a warning edge in his voice as she walked away.

" 'I will', when I damn well please thank you very much!" She snapped, having turned sharply on her heel to face him. She opened her mouth to say something when it snapped shut as a thought occurred to her. "Why do you even need my help? All of the legends and stories all say there's a way, but that you have secret ways you use as well. … A rainbow bridge or something, wasn't it?"

"There is a Rainbow Bridge," Loki began after watching her silently for a moment. As he began again he drew closer, circling her slowly, his eyes never once leaving her. "The Rainbow Bridge is not in and of itself the way one would travel to and from Asgard, it merely connects to it. The Bifrost is how travel is made possible."

"So this, Bifrost, that's how you move between the Nine Realms?" Maeve's eyes followed him as he moved about her, her head snapping around to meet his gaze again in an attempt to shrink the blind spot he would be in once behind her.

"You know of the Nine Realms?" A dark eyebrow raised as he regarded her with what looked like actual interest for the first time.

"Yes. I know a lot of things."

"Modest too." He sniffed.

"You're one to talk." She shot back just as quickly. "So why me then? Why not just use the Bifrost to take you back?"

"It's... in disrepair."

"It's broken." She stated bluntly. "You broke it, didn't you."

There was no question, only an accusation, he could see it clearly in her eyes, almost as if she'd seen it herself. He came to a stop in front of her, standing extremely close as he knew it made her uncomfortable.

"Not in so many words." A smirk played at the corners of his mouth.

"That's a 'yes'."

"If you insist." He merely shrugged, neither affirming nor negating her words. "Either way it matters not. Yours is not to know how the Bifrost came to be in its current state, yours is merely to give me what I ask for." Loki unclasped his hands from behind his back. His right hand rose, his fingers tracing her jawline before tilting her head up as he held her chin between his thumb and forefinger. If his touch surprised or startled her, she did not show it, which only seemed to amuse him more, his face betraying nothing meanwhile a mischievous glint flashed in his eye. She didn't glance away either as his green eyes burned into her strange hazel ones; he smirked as she stood her ground, the thought occurring to him of how much fun could have been had between them had they met under slightly different circumstances. _Then again,_ he mused, _such fun could still be had._

As if reading his thoughts Maeve reached up and pushed his hand away. "You'll get what we agreed on." Her voice firm. "And nothing more."

"Is that so?" He chuckled as he watched her turn and walk away from him again.

"Damn straight." She stated firmly as she turned into the hallway. He could hear her rummaging somewhere out of sight. A moment later he appeared by her side, making note of the fact that she didn't seem bothered by the sudden appearance afforded him by his magic. Gathering what she sought from the hall closet, she turned and walked into an open door on the opposite wall, turning on the light with her arm as she went.

"You can stay here." Maeve began, sitting the towels down on the bed, before motioning to two doors on the far wall of the room. "That's the bathroom and that's just a closet. There's a shower in there should you feel the need to use it. Careful though, the hot water gets really hot, if you're not careful you'll burn yourself. The bed has fresh linens and yada yada." She made a gesture with her hand as she rattled off a few more things, before turning to make her way out of the room. Lounging in the doorway Loki purposefully blocked her path.

"What exactly is it you think you are doing?" He gave her a pointed look as he waited for her reply.

"I'm trying to be nice. Look, I'm not in the mood for this right now. I've had a day already and all I wanted to do was come home and rest. Clearly that didn't turn out to be the case." Pushing some of her curls out of her face she met his gaze straight on. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to get you out of my hair as soon as I can. But I'm not starting tonight. You can sleep here, or you can go back outside and hole up where it was you'd been hiding the last few days, I don't care which. But me, I'm going to go to my room and try to salvage what's left of this night before I have to wake up and deal with you."

Maeve once again made to leave the room, not surprised at all when Loki only moved slightly aside, still blocking most of the door leaving only a small gap that she was meant to pass through. She turned sideways, making it a point to ignore him even as their bodies brushed one another because of the close fit. Now standing in the hallway she glanced at him, looking as if she were going to say something then thinking better of it simply shook her head.

"Good night." Was all she said as she moved away, down the hall to what he assumed was her room and shut herself inside. He grinned as he heard the sound of her bolting the door, as if that could keep him out he thought as he turned into what she'd dubbed as his room, for the time being. At the other end of the hall Maeve stood behind the closed door, back against the wall as she stood there, still as the grave, lost in thought.

Slowly she came out of it. Looking down she saw her hands shaking and noticed that her breathing was labored. Her hands tightened in to fists as she willed herself to calm down. Walking over to her bedroom window she rested her forehead against the glass and took in a long shaky breath, before slowly letting it out again. "It's okay, it's just a few days, soon he'll be gone and you'll be alone again. It's okay, it's okay." Looking up she made eye contact with the ghostly reflection of herself in the glass. "It's okay." Stepping away from the window she moved towards her bathroom; a nice long hot shower was what she needed, a shower and a good night's sleep.

* * *

 _And that ladies and gentlemen is the end of Chapter 2. Many thanks to those who've read, please feel free to leave a review should you feel inspired to do so, etc. It feels fun to get back into the swing of things, writing both characters is turning out to be a lot more interesting of an exercise than I'd originally thought. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As much as she may have needed it, the restful night sleep that Maeve had been hoping for alluded her. For sometime after she'd nestled down under the thick and welcoming covers of her bed she'd merely laid awake, unable to bring on sleep no matter how hard she pressed her eyes closed. At one point even, comically, resorting to actually attempting to count sheep, which merely led to her mind wandering elsewhere. Then when she finally did sleep, it was in seemingly short bursts; all in all not what she had needed and certainly not what she had wanted. She finally decided to call it quits when she'd spent 15 minutes on her side watching her alarm clock slowly tick to 6 o'clock. Getting up she kicked off the covers in a huff, turning off the alarm that she no longer needed and headed toward her bathroom.

Maeve watched her reflection lost in thought as she waited for the tub to fill, the water as hot as she could stand it was already starting to steam up the bathroom. Undressing she stepped into the frothy bath, sinking low into the deep tub, her mane of hair contained by pins and hair bands to the crown of her head and out of the way of the water. Letting out a sigh that came out more as a hiss as her body adjusted the temperature of the water she could feel herself slowly start to relax. Resting her head on the rim of the tub she stared up at her ceiling.

 _There's a god in my_ _guest bedroom._ She mused, the strange thought bringing a tired smile to her face. It sounded ridiculous and if it weren't for the knots in her shoulders that were just beginning to ease apart she would have thought she'd dreamt it all.

"This is how a trashy romance novel starts." She snickered, as she shifted to let her toes peak out above the bubbles. "Some 'mysterious stranger' appears, turns out to be a god and sweeps the heroine off her pins. I can practically see the cover, good old Fabio on the front and all." She giggled to herself, the fact that she was able to make fun of her predicament wasn't lost on her, it meant that even though she'd had terrible night at least she was still in good enough of a humor to poke fun. Maeve stayed submerged until the water cooled enough for her want to leave to override her desire to be sluggish. Toweling off she went about the rest of her morning routine, leaving her room dressed in leggings and a thick cable sweater her hair left in its odd nest atop her head as she headed toward the kitchen with breakfast on her mind.

She paused briefly in front of the guest bedroom door, finding it closed. The thought crossed her mind to knock and see if it's occupant was awake, but as soon as it had come it had gone, if he was awake and more over if he was hungry he could certainly make himself known. Maeve decided on waffles for breakfast, tossing them into the toaster, choosing to set up her laptop at the dining room table while they warmed to a golden brown. A few minutes later her seat was set just as the waffles popped up. Retrieving them they were quickly drowned in what some might have considered an obscene amount of syrup before settling herself in her seat with a glass of milk and dug in.

Opening her email she found herself smirking around the mouthful of waffle. It looked like some time after their conversation last night Hank had sent her a peace offering of sorts in hopes of cheering her up. They had a thing for sending "interesting" and "unusual" articles and what not that they'd find to one another. Occasionally there were just there for a good laugh, other times it was to seek a new perspective from a trusted friend on whatever subject had currently fascinated them. As she opened the most recent email it seemed to be one of the later.

 _Thought you might find this intriguing. -Hank_ Was all the subject said, below were some links and a few attachments. Cracking her knuckles she started opening things up, letting the attachments download; the first link turned out to be a video, Maeve carved off another chunk of waffles while she waited for it to buffer and load. Her gaze moved lazily across the screen as the video started, it didn't seem to be anything too interesting, merely some truck enthusiasts gathered in the middle of nowhere all hootin' and hollerin' about something.

"This some kind of joke, Hank?" She muttered reaching for her glass of milk. "Since when have either of us found a bunch of lugs with trucks 'intriguing'?" A second later she got her answer, as the camera zoomed in on what seemed to be the cause of all the fuss; a truck having just lost it's back bumper as well as the trailer hitch was in the frame for a few shaky moments before the camera swiped to a crater, zooming in on what sat in the epicenter.

Maeve sputtered uncontrollably, choking on her mouthful of milk. Coughing and gasping for air she rewound the video, pausing just as the camera focused in on object in the bottom of the crater.

"No way..." She stared in disbelief at the screen. "It can't be." Hurriedly she began clicking through the other things that Hank had sent; random article clippings, postings from here and there, writings. All held similar threads; strange sightings, unexplained storms, pictures of out of focus images circled in red. One read of an alien humanoid being composed of metal, bringing to mind someone she knew, another spoke of finding curious burned etchings in the ground after one particularly unusual storm just a few weeks ago. The more she read the more her need to know more fired off, the next thing she knew she'd run off to her office, rummaging around she found the odds and ends she was looking for, in particular her headset and another more robust laptop which she set up at the table. The moment it chimed to life she began launching programs, one chirped in her ear as it waited for a response, Maeve taking the time to stuff an excited fork full of waffle into her mouth.

"Hello."

"Hank, you magnificently majestic creature! I could kiss you!" Before she even finished she could hear her friend laughing on the other end.

"I see you, so you received my email then?" He chuckled, Maeve could hear him shifting in his chair, probably taking a break from one of his many projects.

"Hell yeah I did!"

"Well, you don't sound too excited. Normally I would be hearing the sound of you kicking around in your office chair."

"You caught me during breakfast." She grinned, taking a quick sip of milk. "I almost lost my little laptop to milk and waffles, by the way."

"Oh my, that much of a reaction?" Hank chuckled.

"Yeah. Besides, my office is uh... a little off limits at the moment." She cast a glance over her shoulder towards the hallway. The guest bedroom shared a wall with her office, bumping around in the office in one of her usual Hank induced fits would have led to rousing a certain someone whom she was content to let sleep the day away.

"Oh? That bad, huh? You really should be better at cleaning up after yourself. Leaving projects out in the floor is going to come back to bite you one of these days."

"Oh please! You're one to talk." Maeve huffed playfully into the mic. Getting to her feet she moved over to the bookshelf scanning the spines in search of one particular set of books. "Last time I saw you, your office could have been called a nest with all you've got floating around in there."

"Yes well, though that may be true I am fully capable of finding any and everything I need. 'A place for everything and everything in it's place', it may be chaos but it is an organized chaos."

"Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that- Ah ha!" She grinned triumphantly as she found the books she was looking for, plucking them in quick succession from the shelf and back to the table she settled them down with a small thump.

"Oh, referring to your collection by the sounds of it. I'm glad I was able to provide you with some sort of amusement."

"How did you even manage to come across any of this?" She asked thumbing through one of her books as she finished off the rest of her breakfast, careful to not drip syrup on anything important.

"Through the usual means. I occasionally scour what's out there to see if there's anything out in the wide open about others like us. One such search led me to these and what with your expertise in history and mythology I thought you would enjoy looking it over."

 _Others_ _like us_... "So I'm guessing since you passed all of this off to me there wasn't anyone..."

"No. This seems to be a completely separate incident, an anomaly all on it's own."

"One of the articles, it mentions..."

"The 'metal humanoid'? Yes I looked into that. Its related solely to this incident. It was even destroyed, from what I understand, during the event."

"Ok. If you say so." A pause stretched out between the two, Maeve fiddling with a pencil as she thought of how to brooch the next question on her mind. "Hank?"

"Yes?"

"Have you... have you found anything..."

"Pertaining to you, no. I've been keeping my promise Maeve, anything that even remotely smells of a trace of you I look into and take care of it."

"I know. I don't doubt you, I just..."

"It's alright, I understand." The silence slipped back between the two, and threatened to go on indefinitely when Maeve heard the muffled sound of someone entering Hank's office. "Maeve, I have to go."

"That's alright, I'll probably be spending the next few hours pouring over my books anyway. You go, I'll wade through all of this just fine."

"Alright. Do take care of yourself. I'll be in touch."

"I know and I will. See you later Hank."

"Until next time, Maeve." And with that the line went dead.

True to her word, Maeve plunged head first into her books, alternating between their pages and the various things that Hank had sent. Soon the initial small stack of books she'd retrieved were joined by notebooks and binders, all of various sizes and clearly well loved and much used by their condition. Her breakfast dished were long forgotten, rinsed and settled in the sink, the only thing still on the table was her glass of milk which she periodically refilled while holding a stack of notes or balancing a book in the other hand. Time slipped away as she went deeper down the rabbit hole, so immersed in her work was she that she didn't seem to notice as the books and papers began to envelope the chairs next to her or when stacks began grown on the floor. But perhaps more importantly, so caught up in what she was doing she didn't appear to notice that her 'guest' had awaken and was watching her from the shadows.

Loki had been awake long before he'd heard the sounds of the mortal woman going about her morning routine. He'd chosen to stay within the room even when he caught the scent of her breakfast. He needed, wanted time to think. He needed time to plan. He wanted to have every potential outcome thought through sufficiently before he returned to Asgard. He knew what he wanted, he wanted what had been denied him, what was rightfully his. In order to get it of course he knew he needed both time and patience. Rushing in would merely leave him open for error with catastrophic results, he would not be out done nor undermined by them again.

Eventually he had chosen to leave the confines of the room, though he wouldn't admit it aloud he was a bit curious as to why the woman had not bothered to come in and check on him, at least to see if he were still where she'd left him that night before. Either she truly wasn't bothered with him being here or merely didn't care if he chose to spirit himself away into the night. A smirk had formed on his face as the thought had occurred to him, she would probably be greatly appreciative if he had done something like that. However despite his "need" to have her assistance in finding his initial entrance to this world aside, he'd begun to enjoy how he'd managed to get under her skin so far and had no intention of ending their little game any time soon. Because that's what this was steadily becoming for him, a game, a pleasant and enjoyable distraction as he plotted his return to Asgard, whether she realized she were a participant in it or not.

Mortals were such strange creatures, he once again decided as he continued to watch her from his vantage point. She was so blissfully unaware of him as she fussed over one notebook and then another, occasionally stopping to reference a book before going back to the papers in front her. How they had managed as a whole to survive nearly as long as they had on their own for so long seemed rather mystifying. No real magic of their own, just sheer stubborn determination; even their fanciful tools were something had only started to come about most recently within their history. They were no better than children, weak and defenseless beings in need of-

"… Odinson..." Loki's attention snapped back from his meandering thoughts to the woman before him. She'd still yet to notice him, but her brow was furrowed now as she scrutinized something in front of her. Seeing an opportunity he disappeared from where he stood to reappear just behind her. On silent feet he approached, placing his hand on the back of her chair as he lowered his mouth to her ear.

"Yes." He purred in her ear, his voice like silk, his smirk growing wider as he watched her tense before she turned to look him in the face.

"You're awake." It wasn't a question as her strange hazel eyes met his green ones.

"So it would seem." He retorted. Both stared at the other, neither wanting to be the first to give an inch while waiting for the other to make some sort of retreat. "What is it that you're doing?" The question was coated with sarcasm but buried underneath it all was a very soft sense of curiosity.

"Reading."

"Clearly." Loki smirked at her quip. "Subject?"

"You." She admitted freely, before furrowing her brow, finally turning away from him to scan her gaze over her notes. "Well not really. Your brother, at the moment I suppose would be more accurate."

With her back once again to him she didn't witness how the mention of his brother made him tense nor how he fought to keep the almost instinctive scowl that had become second nature from creasing his face. Moving from behind her he moved to a chair to her right, a flick of his wrist clearing the few books in it from the seat only for them to reappear in a puff of green on a corner of the table. Settling himself in the chair plucked up one of the many books that surrounded Maeve, leafing through it with the same level of disinterest he'd shown the night before.

"Do tell, what misbegotten and ill advised adventure of my _brother_ are you regaling yourself with."

"New Mexico."

Loki stilled, his eyes narrowing slightly. _New Mexico_. The name plucked a string of familiarity but he couldn't exactly figure out why. "Doesn't ring a bell." He lied.

"I'm not too surprised. I wouldn't expect you to be familiar with the names of any of the places in my world outside of what was touched by Vikings to be honest. You wouldn't happen to know what this thing is would you?" Taking the smaller laptop in hand, she quickly folded it in half, the screen facing upward as she turned it toward Loki pointing at the shiny metal figure pictured.

His countenance was still one of feigned disinterest as he turned to inspect the screen. "The Destroyer." He mused under his breath, a smirk playing at the very corners of his mouth.

" 'The Destroyer'? Seems a bit much to name something like that don't you think?"

"No. It's rather simple really. It's named for what it does." He stated rather matter-of-factly. "A cup is just a cup no matter what it holds, for that is it's purpose. Much like that machine there, it destroys and thus is called 'The Destroyer'. "

"And an axe cuts wood but we don't call it a woodcutter, that title is for the person who wields the axe." She offered as she pulled the screen away, looking at the image herself. "You sent it didn't you? This 'Destroyer'."

Maeve only needed to glance up to receive her answer. Though he didn't verbally admit it, she saw the mischief dancing in his eyes. His mouth was set in a firm line, but the smile that should have been there was more than present in his bright green eyes.

"Of course you did." She shrugged, a strange smile was on her lips. He wondered what it was exactly that amused her. "Silly question." She muttered under her breath as she placed the computer back down, reaching for another book when her hand stilled. Her outstretched hand went to her head as her eyes lost their focus for a moment. After a second her senses seemed to return to her as she quickly glanced at her watch only to grimace.

"Damn I did it again." Loki heard her mumble to herself as she began moving a few things in front of her around, clearing a space before her. "Are you hungry? You must be, you missed breakfast."

He watched as she stood moving into the kitchen, rambling to herself as she steadied her frame against the open door. He was perplexed by her odd behavior until a thought struck him. So engrossed she'd been she had forgotten to eat. His gaze swept over the table and all that was accumulated there, the sight stirring distant memories of a very similar scene long sense past.

 _Here you are! What a hunger for knowledge you have. If you seek to continue to nourish that mind of yours however you must first nourish your body. Come, my son; come eat and tell me of what all you've gleaned_ _from the tomes today._

How many times had his mother found him in such a state in his youth? Hidden among ever growing mountains of books and scrolls and scraps of paper. Searching through their pages for their inky secrets. How she would search for him once he'd disappeared from sight, once it was discovered that he and Thor were not off in some companionable mission of havoc wreaking, and she would always be the one that found him. Amidst the volumes, the sands of time having slipped away, the hours bleeding together, meal times and daylight long forgotten. She would find him and praise him, always, before coaxing him away with a promise to let him return as soon as he had eaten something. _Mother..._ Green eyes turned back to the woman moving about the kitchen, his measure of her changing as he watched her putt around the place.

In no time she returned to the table carrying two plates, each held a sandwich, while the one she sat in front of him was also loaded with fruit, hers had a smattering of fruit but also something else that he could not quite figure out. Having divvied out the plates Maeve had turned around to grab drinks, returning with water for him and a small can for herself. The small vessel hissed as she opened it, taking a sip she quickly bit into her sandwich before reaching for the nearest book.

"Why?"

" 'Why' what?" She teased popping an apple wedge into her mouth. " 'Why' the food? Because I figured you were at least as hungry as I was. 'Why' the sandwiches and not something hot? Eh, Didn't feel like fussing with heating anything up. 'Why' didn't I give you any potato chips? Well, that's because I'm pretty sure you don't have them on Asgard and the last thing I need is for you to get your dander up and think I was giving you something horrid to eat." Maeve smirked as she waved one of, what Loki assumed was what she had referred to as a potato chip in his general direction before placing it in her mouth.

" 'Why' your choice of reading material." Her taunting had earned a very slight smile. "I find it highly doubtful that this would be something you humans would deem worthy of education in your _schools_."

Maeve glanced up from her plate at him; the way he'd said "schools" made his thoughts on the matter rather obvious, which only served to gain a chuckle out of her.

"In basic schooling, yes I suppose you'd be right, but in higher education you'd be very much surprised at what you can your hands on. I've always been interested in history and the fantastical, those interests bled into each other even more once I got to college. I studied history but I also studied myths of every kind. Oh I've come across stories of you, Thor and your kind many times, back when I was in grade school was my first encounter. While working on a research paper I became reacquainted with your tales and well the rest is history."

"Let me guess, this research paper consisted of a compellation of heroes, my _brother_ but one of many counted. You mortals do so love tales of heroism. Some mediocre individual overcoming some supposed insurmountable amount of trials, experience great loss, ultimately being all neatly tied up with a 'happy ending' of some sort." Maeve watched him for a moment, weighing his words, his disdain almost palatable, before simply shaking her head as she finished off another slice of apple.

"Nope," getting to her feet she leaned across the table, her fingers searched the different spines until she found the book she was looking for. Just as well loved as the others this one had many small slips of colored paper poking out of it. Gently she dusted the cover off of some barely visible flecks before gingerly handing it to him. "This is what brought me back."

Opening the cover and leafing past the first few blank pages he was greeted by a beautiful print of an etching consisting of intricate knot work with a wolf's head in the center. Thumbing on he found the title page and he stilled as his eyes skimmed over the words. "Fenrir."

Loki glanced back up to see her eyes trained on him as he looked through the book. A far away look was in her eyes as she nodded before coming back to herself somewhat, her attention returning to the food in front of her. "Yes, Fenrir. I was researching myths involving wolves. Wolves, like rabbits or dragons for example, appear in many different myths across a multitude of cultures. Some are tricksters or villains, while some are wise ones here to impart some sort of knowledge, some signs of impending doom or great beasts that bring the defeat of ones enemies, and others still protectors of the lost and travelers. There were so many tales to sift through, not even counting modern interpretations and myths and legends we've created in the last few centuries."

"Seems you were quite invested in this research of yours." He commented off handedly. He'd continued to turn through the pages as she had spoken. Her voice was laced with the adoration she clearly felt for the subject she had chosen, the evidence of it present before him as he skimmed through not only the carefully marked pages but the small notes secured between them. Neatly written and some even numbered with the page, paragraph and line that they referred to, others alluding to what he assumed were notes that were kept elsewhere in other books. It was her laugh that drew his gaze back up this time. It wasn't a happy sound, it was dismissive, the sort of sound one makes when attempting to cover some past transgression. A sound he was well acquainted with making.

"Yeah you could say that. Fat lot of good it did me." Maeve met Loki's gaze, a smirk to rival one of his own present on her face. One of his eyebrows rose in an unspoken question, which made her give that hollow sounding laugh again before plucking a few more slices of fruit from her plate, choosing her words carefully between bites. "Oh don't get me wrong, my papers were well received. I got high marks on them and in turn in my classes, but I suppose it came at a cost, if you could really even consider it that. As I said last night, there are still plenty out there that would relegate you and yours to nothing more than fairytales of a bygone era where man was dumb and didn't understand the workings of the world. Imagine then what they would think of someone who not only sought to study those things, but eagerly so. My interests had already marked me as strange long before I reached college, and it seemed those tales followed right along."

"You were shunned for your studies?" Loki taunted, though he wasn't even sure why. Even as the words had left his mouth, memories of similar ridicule that had followed him snapping at his heals like starved dogs in his youth came to mind.

"Yes and no." Maeve sighed, as she played with her pencil. Taking a swig of her soda she let out another sigh. "I was shunned because of a small town mentality. I was already an outsider when my family came here, I was strange by default. My interests weren't seen as anything outrageously odd because I already was odd, what made more sense for someone out of place to be interested in then other things that seemed out of place? I was strange, different, and they accepted that. I was shunned because I held my resolve, because I wouldn't buckle on certain things, because I didn't care to let my convictions or my beliefs, no matter how silly they may have seemed, be swayed by something that everyone else had deemed 'worth it'. I was shunned because I rejected... something. I suppose they believed if I was cut off from others I'd change my mind, but the fact was and still remains I'm far too stubborn to let something as simple as the silent treatment from a handful of people that I already don't even care for make me change my mind."

A silence stretched between the two. A detached and distant look had come into Maeve's eyes while she had spoken as her mind took her back through the events from her college days. Loki watched, lost in his own thoughts, a mix of his own experiences in his youth and just recently and the information he'd just gleaned that she'd more than easily given away.

"What did you reject?"

"Something that wasn't even remotely worth the value put upon it."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"Oh," Maeve snickered, her eyes dancing as she once again turned one of those mischievous smirks on him. "But it does. It just doesn't answer it the way that you want."

Loki gave a snort to mask the chuckle that had almost slipped out at her retort. "And now?"

"Now I continue my research, some for personal reasons, others not so much so. I bounce back and forth between modern myths and the old tried and true ones; seeing how the old ones effect and sway the new ones, how the new ones are shaped by different occurrences and how certain events that happen now, everyday actually add to their mythos." He took note of how her eyes almost danced with excitement as she spoke of her work, he wondered what it was she was truly enamored with, the process of the work, the subject or just having the purpose driving her on.

 _Why does it matter?_ came the snide voice within the back of his mind. Why should he care what reason drove this woman to continue to pursue her research? It was something mortals did, busy work in a sense, something that wiles the hours away, something that made them feel productive. _Creatures with such short life spans, to them their 'work' feels momentous_ _but imagine how quickly and easily you could accomplish her 'work'. In an instant you would be done and still have centuries of time before you._

"And in your search for information on my brother's and my latest encounter with your world, have you gotten any closer to disclosing where it was you found me?" He asked as he picked at the fruit on his plate, choosing to change the subject as a way to pacify the hissing voice. He watched her movements freeze, the grimace that blinked across her face gave him the answer she hadn't yet. "My guess would be 'no'."

"It's um... it was on my 'to do' list for today." Maeve mumbled, gathering up her dishes and taking them over to the sink; using the time with having her back to him as a way to clear her head.

 _Wha-what just happened!?_ Maeve stared at the backsplash as she fussed with the sink to make it look like she was actually busy and not just trying to kill time to get herself together. What had just happened? Where had all of this candidness come from? This was the very same person who had, with magic, restrained her to the floor of her own home just last night and demanded that she do his bidding. He'd even had the nerve to suggest that she do even more than that, and now, she was sitting here, sharing with him the times and trails of bygone college days as though him being in her house was just some natural and normal occurrence. This was Loki the god of Mischief for goodness sake! Why was she- no. No, she already knew why, she just didn't want to think about that right now. Not now.

Turning back around she moved back to the table and began cleaning up her books and things, slowly putting things in order and returning everything to its proper place. Loki's eyes tracked her as she moved around the table, to her bookshelves and back again.

"It shouldn't take too long, to sort out where you were. I'll just need to print off a few maps and then I can-" her thought was cut short as the lights went out, plunging them into relative darkness, the sun having hidden itself away behind a thick curtain of clouds while they had spoken. Both looked upward, as if the answer to what had just transpired would be found on the ceiling, just above them. It was not. Loki's gaze then fell on Maeve who's line of sight took a bit longer to leave the ceiling before meeting back up with his.

"Just a small power outage. We'll be fine though, the generator should be kicking in in a minute or two." She mentioned offhandedly as she went back to gathering up things from the table. A dim churning sound could be heard, the hush of it leading Loki to believe that the generator of which she spoke was housed somewhere outside. "See? There it is now, nothing to worry-" a loud metallic grinding sound could be heard, followed by dead silence.

Maeve turned in the direction of the sound a confused look on her face. "That's not a good sound..." She huffed. Sitting the stack of books in her arms back on the table she headed off towards the back of the house, stopping by the back door to step into a pair of boots and a coat before propping the door open and heading out to investigate the generator.

This wasn't happening. Maeve pulled the flashlight out of her pocket, holding it high as she gave the generator a once over before deciding to go in for a closer inspection. Holding the small torch between her lips she fussed with the generator, checking all of the basics and still finding nothing wrong. Taking the light in hand again she pushed her nose closer into a different parts of it trying to discern the cause of the horrid sound it had made. A moment later, after still finding nothing, Maeve let out an irritated hiss as she got to her feet, kicking at the ground before turning back to the house.

Still settled in the chair she'd left him in, Loki watched as Maeve stormed back in from the back of the house. She glared angrily at the phone she'd used last night, as if it may, at any moment, jump up and bite her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Maeve took a deep breath before picking it up and dialing.

 _Don't pick up. Don't pick up. Don't pick up. Don't-_ "Hi Ms. Cooper! How are- Yes, yes I'm- Yes- I know- Yes it is chilly- Ms. Coop- Ms.- Yes, I know. Ms. Cooper- ma'am-" Maeve's eyes rolled heavenward as she tried to get a word in edgewise with the older woman, silently thankful it wasn't a serious emergency less she be axe murdered or bleed out while waiting for the woman to stop rambling on and on about nothing.

"Ms. Cooper-I-need-to-speak-to-Mr. Cooper-my-generator-is-broken!" When the woman on the other side of the phone had finally decided to take a breath Maeve took full advantage, jumping in and running her words together in order to get her message across. After being admonished for not sharing her reason for her call sooner Maeve was finally rewarded with silence from the other side of the line while Mabel went in search of Frank. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long.

"Maeve? Is everything alright?"

"Hi Mr. Cooper; yes everything's alright for the most part. The power's gone out, for whatever reason, and the generator made this weird noise and I can't seem to find out what's wrong with it."

"Well, I'll give the old work horse this, it's got some decent timing. Look, here's what we'll do. I still have some runs I need to make out your ways. I'll swing by after I finish up with my last stop since you'll be on the way, and I'll take a look at it."

"Only if it's not out of your way."

"Maeve don't worry about it. I'd be quite the heel to leave you out there knowing that thing is bust what with how cold it's suppose to get over the next few days. Your folks would have my hide."

"Yeah well... Thanks."

"No problem kiddo. Though don't go thanking me yet. Hopefully the thing is just in need of a part or two, and not completely dead. You won't be feeling too thankful if the second turns out to be the case."

"True," Maeve couldn't help the chuckle that bubbled out of her. "Well I suppose I'll see you when you get here."

"Well don't go changing your plans for me!" Frank teased, laughing.

"Oh ha, ha. I'll see you later."

"I'll be there soon as I can Maeve. Sit tight." Returning the phone to the jack Maeve let out a small puff of air, her hands settling on her hips before finally turning her attention to back to Loki.

Loki.

What was she going to do about him? She couldn't exactly explain him away, not easily anyway. For all Frank knew, heck, for all anyone in town knew she lived by herself. There were only a few ways to get to her house and most of those ways passed in some respect through town, there'd be no plausible way that he would have been able to sneak past everyone to get her house unseen, not one that anyone would believe. _Oh come on, what's not to believe about a demi-god falling from the sky and you bringing him home like a stray?_ When she came back to herself she found that Loki was returning her stare.

"Yes?"

"You..."

"This again?"

"You can't be here." Maeve practically blurted. In return Loki titled his head ever so slightly to the side, his green eyes narrowing, the movement almost cat like.

"Excuse me?" There was a warning there, an edge in his voice that heralded back to the night before.

"You can't be here. They think I live alone. If Frank gets here and you're here... you can't be here."

"Well it seems like the easiest solution to your problem is to simply give me what I require then I can vacate your humble home, leaving your perceived chastity intact."

"The power's out I can't- wait a minute, just what do you mean by 'perceived'!" Loki found himself amused as he watched her strange hazel eyes ignite with a deep raging fire. Clearly he'd managed to strike a nerve.

"Well clearly that's what you're upset about, now isn't it? From what you've said yourself, I can only imagine that this general area is quite provincial, in both town size and mindset. You don't want to have to explain the man you've been secreting away in your house-"

"Now hold it just a second, you overstuffed peacock," Maeve hissed, closing the gap between them until she was leaning down, their faces level with one another, her eyes having narrowed to dangerous slits. "You barged your high and mighty self back into my house after I kicked you out. You're already unwelcome. If I were you, I wouldn't go around insulting people and insinuating things that I know nothing about, especially when it comes to the host who, mind you, has been rather gracious in not turning you out on your ass again."

"And if _I_ were _you_ ," he spat back, his face moved forward so that now they were barely a breath apart as he shoved her finger away from where it had been prodding his chest. "I would do well to remember that I am not dealing with some frail mortal. I am a god, woman!"

"My name is Maeve! And _you_ , you are a demi god and _you_ are in _my_ house!" She snapped back, shoving him back against the chair. Quick as lightning Loki took hold of both her wrists and a second later Maeve, found herself flipped over the back of her couch, landing flat on her back onto the cushions as she once again found herself pinned underneath the annoyed demi god.

"Woman, that tongue of yours will be your undoing." He hissed, bringing his face close to hers once again.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Maeve roared, clearly fed up with being restrained and sat on, as she struggled to break free. Equally annoyed, Loki was prepared to rage right back at her when their eyes met and he stilled.

There it was again. That same strange look that had come into her eyes the night before, but this time she wasn't able to suppress it as quickly. She glared up at him, her eyes burning dangerously into his, before she squeezed them shut again clearly attempting to reign in whatever it was she was fighting. Just like she had last night, Maeve went eerily still beneath him, to the point where Loki wasn't sure if she were still breathing. After a long stretch of silence, she took a deep breath, letting the air in her lungs slip out silently between barely parted lips before venturing to open her eyes again. They were still dark and furious but the underlying threat was now gone. No, not gone. Just hidden. Silence stretched on between the two, filling the house with an unnatural quiet that did nothing to dissipate the tension growing betwixt them. The silence threatened to go on, engulfing them both until Maeve chose to speak.

"Look, the power is out. I don't know how things work where you come from but here, if there's no power, things don't work. I need access to the internet to get the maps that I need, the ones that I have aren't going to help you in the least bit, unless you want to go off gallivanting with only half of an idea of where it is you're heading. Frank is coming here to fix the generator, and until he does there's literally nothing I can do to help get you out of my hair any sooner. Now if you would be ever so kind as to get off of me it would be much appreciated."

Loki didn't move, but continued to watch her. _What am I?_ Those three words buzzed around in his mind as his eyes remained trained on her face. A second time now he had been confronted with this unidentified side of her, something that both baffled and intrigued him. For now he acquiesced, releasing his hold on her he moved off of the couch, standing next to it but never once taking his eyes off of her. The gesture was mirrored on her part, straightening her clothes as she stood next to him, her eyes still aflame. Without a word, Maeve moved past him, their shoulders knocking one another as neither gave the other clear enough passage past the other.

Marching over to the table Maeve began quickly gathering the books and notebooks she wanted. She knew she should put things to right, clean up after herself but for the moment she couldn't care any less, the same voice in the back of her head that had been hissing at her by the sink was now back asking the same questions. After all what had she expected? Their conversation was a fluke, a chance occurrence and just as quickly as it had happened it was gone. Whether it was something genuine or simply smoke and mirrors Maeve no longer cared. Having added her laptop to the stack she gathered her things in her arms and stormed off to her bedroom, promptly slamming and bolting the door behind her.

He wanted to leave so badly? Then so be it. He would be gone and on his way and she would have her sanctuary back. And right now that peace and tranquility was what she wanted more than anything. He wanted his way out, well she'd give it to him; she was tired of his "company". To hell with demigods, to hell with him.

* * *

 _And that ladies and gents, is chapter 3. I certainly hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed making it happen. As always if you would be as so kind as to leave a review, it would fill my heart with oodles of joy!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was almost dark when a muffled pounding began on the front door of the secluded house, the sound of it reverberating softly throughout the still interior. If one didn't know any better, they might assume that the house was unoccupied; there was a brief pause, before the banging began again.

Maeve emerged from her room, backlit by the dim lighting of a couple of large candles that she had burning in her room. Fussing with the blanket she had cocooned herself in, she made her way to the door, her bare feet carrying her quickly over the cold wood floor.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on." She muttered as she fumbled with the lock at the door, her fingers finally working in the manner they were supposed to she pulled the door open.

"Hello Maeve!"

"Chris?" Maeve stared, taken aback. "What are you-?"

"We were out with Gramps and figured we'd just come here with him since it'd be stupid to have him go all the way home to drop us off and then drive back."

" 'We'?" As if summoned by her very question Ethan stepped into view, the lantern he held giving him an unsettling countenance as he stood on her front stoop.

"Hello Maeve."

"Ethan." Maeve responded, just as briefly, while Chris stood between the two, seemingly unaware of the underlying tension.

"Ah Maeve!" Frank called her attention away; poking her head out of the door to peer around the threshold she spotted him, gathering some tools together out of the back of his truck. "How you holding up? Sorry we came by so late, Missus Finch was having some troubles with her water heater and it took me a bit longer than I anticipated."

"Oh that's fine. The walkway back to the generator should still be cleared from earlier. You need a hand?"

"Nah that's what I got these two for, you get back inside and I'll let you know what's what in a bit. C'mon boys." Chris bounded off after his grandfather while Ethan remained a moment longer, his gaze on something somewhere over Maeve's shoulder. Casting a quick glance over her own shoulder and finding nothing, Maeve turned back to give the man before her a quizzical look.

"Can I help you?" She shot, distracting him from his wayward stare and bringing his gaze back to her. He began to say something, but was cut short by Frank's voice.

"Ethan! That light does me no good over there son, come on." Without a second glance Ethan stalked off to join his grandfather and younger brother. Shutting and bolting the door, Maeve leaned against it and let out a heavy sigh. Gathering the blanket up around her again she gave the space a cursory glance herself.

She wasn't sure where Loki had gone off to, not that she could say she truly cared at the moment. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since their explosive episode this afternoon. She'd locked herself in her room, doing the best that she could manage with what she had to get some sort of map sorted out for him so that he could leave. What he had done with himself since then had been a complete mystery. Making her way back to her room she walked past the door to the guest bedroom. It was still closed, a thought crossed her mind to go in there, to open the door and see if he was actually in there, a thought that was quickly snuffed out as she turned to continue back to her room.

Once inside she began half heartedly picking up some of the books that littered the floor, dropping the two she'd grabbed onto her bed before flopping down herself. Laying on her back with her hands splayed out at her sides her mind wandered. Soon she'd have power back, power meant internet, internet meant more resources, resources that could be checked and double checked, printed and charted and then handed off to a certain demigod who could then be sent packing. And then... and then she'd be alone again. A frown creased her face. She didn't care for the way that phrase suddenly sounded in her head. She liked being alone but for some reason it sounded more melancholy than it should have.

Maeve wasn't alone, alone. Sure she lived alone, but that was the way she liked it. Even with everything that had happened while growing up and while at college she'd still managed to have a few close friends and that's really what a lady needed in her life. Good friends, good food, and a sturdy roof over her head. So why now was it starting to sound... for lack of a better word, different? She had an inkling as to why but much as she'd been doing the last few days she was going to choose to once again ignore it.

Another round of knocking interrupted her thoughts, this time from the back door and at a much more frantic pace. Gathering herself up once again Maeve moved to the back mud room, hissing as her bare feet made contact with the cold tile floor. Snatching up the flashlight she'd left behind from earlier she flicked it on as she undid the latch coming face to face once again with a rather flustered looking Chris.

"Chris? What are you-?"

"Bathroom?"

"Wha- Oh, oh, yeah sure, you know where it is." She stepped out of the way trying to stifle her laughter as he squeezed in past her and tried to step out of his boots. "Chris just forget it and go, I'd rather clean up melted snow than something else."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks!" He called over his shoulder, having managed to get his boots off anyway before darting down the dark hallway and into the bathroom. Shaking her head and chuckling to herself Maeve pulled out one of the towels she kept in the mud room and sat Chris' boots on top of it while she reached for a second one to sop up the already melting snow on the floor.

"Looks like some things never change. He's always got someone cleaning up behind him." Spinning around Maeve came face to face with Ethan.

"Can I help you?" She shot back, trying to keep the edge out of her voice.

Ethan shook his head. "I was sent to make sure that one actually made it inside, as Gramps didn't want his adoptive god-daughter accidentally slipping in a frozen puddle of piss come tomorrow." He gave her a strange look before stepping past her, out of the mudroom and into the rest of the house.

Maeve bristled, at his words and his actions, but mostly at his tone. "You know, Chris isn't a kid anymore, you should stop treating him like he's a child just because he's younger than you. Also, just what do you think you're doing?"

"Going to find the 'not kid'." he called over his shoulder as he continued on down the hallway.

"Ethan." Maeve called after him, expecting him to stop, when he didn't she let out an exasperated huff as she followed him. "Ethan!"

"What?" Pausing he turned to look at her, his hand resting on the guest bedroom doorknob.

"Okay, one, you are tracking snow and muck all through my house. Two, since when did it become okay to just barge in uninvited to someone else's home and just poke around where you're not suppose to?" At this she moved between him and the guest bedroom door, locking eyes with him. "And three, like I said, Chris is old enough to not need his brother checking up on him while he uses the bathroom, he's a sophomore in college for goodness sake, I think he's figured out how use the toilet on his own by now, so stop using him as an excuse for why you're really intruding."

"Sophomore he may be but he's still an idiot sometimes. Also intruding? Since when is a friend coming inside intruding?"

"Oh, we're 'friends' again, now? When did this happen? Do the others know?"

"God, you're never gonna let that go are you?" He gave an exasperated sigh, but the look that briefly flickered through his eyes showed he didn't really care whether she was over things or not.

"I'd be an idiot if I did."

"Well you're an idiot for still thinking it matters." Ethan shot back. The pair squared off in the hallway, both staring the other down.

"Get out of my house Ethan." Maeve finally let out, not budging and her tone making it clear she had no intention of arguing. For a moment she wasn't sure if he'd actually listen, then the hallway was flooded with a warm light as Chris exited the bathroom. Turning on his heel, Ethan made his way back down the hall towards the mudroom as he called over his shoulder, "Come on Chris."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Maeve glared at his retreating back for a second before turning her attention back to the brother that now stood next to her. "Hey thanks again for letting me in, you're a real lifesaver! Seriously I...," he paused in his ramblings for a second when he heard the back door slam shut. Letting out a sigh he gave an exaggerated slouch before turning a concerned smile on her. "So I take it you guys haven't exactly patched things up, huh?"

"Chris, I-"

"Hey," he began, holding up his hands in a sign of surrender. "I know, 'let sleeping dogs lie' and all. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know Ethan can be, for lack of a better word, an ass sometimes and worse at others. If it helps... I never believed any of the things that he said about you."

Taking a deep breath Maeve sighed, before gently patting Chris's arm. "I know Chris, really It's okay, you don't have to keep apologizing for him every time we see each other you know."

"I know. It's just, well you know how he gets." At this Maeve snorted causing Chris to chuckle.

"Move it Chris!" Came a shout from outside, prompting a scowl from both Chris and Maeve.

"I better go, wouldn't want him to get his undies in even more of a bunch." He chuckled as he gave Maeve's hand a gentle squeeze. "Take care of yourself okay?"

"Same to you." She returned his smile and hand squeeze with one in kind, before Chris made his way down the hall and out the back door, gently shutting it behind him.

After that time seemed to plug along slowly. Just as Maeve was digging out a few more candles she heard a strong hum from outside, a moment later the lights blinked on and the heating kicked in. Stepping into a pair of boots and a thick jacket Maeve opened up the front door just before Frank could manage to knock.

"You've got lights!"

"Yes well I can see that, thanks Frank." She laughed good naturedly. "Would you guys like to come in? I can whip up some coffee and hot chocolate real quick."

"Thanks, but we'll have to pass this time around. Apparently I've worked them too hard and they're eager to get home. I just wanted to let you know, I managed to get the parts sorted for the night. The old beast should keep on running for a while longer, but I want you to stop by the next time you're in town so we can have a chance to look at a newer model. This one will keep kicking but if this winter is supposed to be as hard as they're saying it's going to be, I don't think it'll last much longer after that."

"Duly noted. Thanks again Frank, have a safe ride back." at that Frank wished Maeve a good night before, loading up the rest of his things and back his truck out of her driveway. Bolting the door and sighing, she kicked off her shoes and threw her jacket across the back of one of the chairs at her breakfast counter before moving about the room and blowing out the few candles she'd had around the place. After the last candle was out in the living space, she gathered up a few books in her arms and made her way back to her room. With the generator fixed, that solved one of her problems. And now with power came internet and the chance to solve another problem. Kicking the door to her bedroom shut behind her, she made sure it was locked before unloading her books onto her bed amidst the others already there.

"Alright, let's get rid of a demi-god."

* * *

It was cold.

But this cold was nothing compared to the absolute frigidness that he had experienced, falling through the space of the nine realms when he'd been flung from the decaying Rainbow Bridge.

As he stood there, cloaked in darkness and nothing more, watching as the lone vehicle arrived and its three occupants made their way around the woman's house, he seethed. Not because of what had transpired between the two of them, though he was still amused at the sheer audacity of her to raise her voice at one such as himself. No, all that had taken place until this point, he'd found quite the interesting distraction, and that's what now ate away at him.

 _Look at you. How_ precious _the two of you are._ The inner voice hissed. _If one didn't know any better, one would think that you had acquired a fondness for mortals to rival that of your brothers._

"No." Loki growled out between clenched teeth, his voice low in his throat. "I am nothing like my... _brother._ " He was nothing like Thor. Given the chance that oaf would probably give up all of Asgard if it meant having dealings with these mortals; he had certainly become quite obsessed with them since his first encounter in, what had she called it, New Mexico? Clearly the blow to his head from the initial impact on Earth had finally done what many had only hoped to do in battle with his brother and knocked him senseless.

No. Loki of Asgard was nothing like Thor.

 _Loki of Asgard? Aren't you forgetting something?_ Loki's fist clenched as the memories came rushing back, bringing with them the wash of utter betrayal he had felt. _They betrayed you! They lied to you; is it much of a stretch to believe that they despised you as well?_ He remembered the tales, ages ago, sitting before their father or some other elder, a tutor, learning of encounters with the Frost Giants. He remembered that feeling of awe and adoration he had felt towards the man he'd called father all these centuries, amazed at his might, what he had done and could do. _They spun nothing but lies, fooled you into believing the horrid tales of the Frost Giants, the whole time knowing what you truly were, the whole time laughing at you; still they laugh at you. And how much more they would laugh if they could only see you now._ A growl of anger on his lips, Loki struck out, slamming his fist in to the nearest tree. Opening his hand up against the surface of the tree, green wisps began pouring from his hand, seeping into the bark. Pulling his hand back he flexed it once, an odd green light glowing from within the tree for the briefest moment before he clenched his fist again; what began as a soft creaking grew to a loud groan as the tree contorted and bent under the weight of his magic, until nothing but a charred misshapen ghost of it's former self was left.

"I _will_ show them." Loki wheeled turning on his heel, to glare back down at the house below, the truck and it's occupants now gone. Once he got back, he'd show them all. Everyone who'd ever wronged him, he would show them, and that woman down there would be the first.

* * *

It was well into the morning before Maeve had bothered coming out into the backyard. A light blanket of snow a few inches thick covered the ground, a muffled crunch under her feet as picked her way around was all that could be heard. Normally this would have been something she would have loved, the sheer stillness that comes with the snow, the only thing better would have been actual snowfall at that moment. But instead the stillness irked her. No, it wasn't that, per say... _You know what it really is that's bothering you._ Maeve shook the thought from her head, she wasn't going to deal with that just yet, but something did feel... off, and she didn't care for it.

Ignoring it for the time being, she set back to the task at hand, marching up the hill behind her house to the tree line there, wondering if the royal pain in the ass had hidden himself up here at some point in the night. She had gone into the guest bedroom that morning only to find it, and subsequently the rest of the house empty and completely devoid of a particular Asgardian. Annoyed, she had suited up in warmer clothes and had set out to find him, halfway hoping that he'd decided to buzz off on his own. _Now wouldn't that be a treat?_

As she crested the hill her determined steps came to a slow halt. A few feet ahead of her, just past the first few trees in sight, stood a warped badly charred tree. Making her way over to it she reached out, her fingers gingerly touching it; where her fingers rested, layers of the tree merely flaked away, disintegrating under her touch. As her brain tried to comprehend just what it was she was seeing Maeve's eyes began to wander, and found another marred tree. Then another and another, as quickly as her eyes would land on one, she'd turn her head to find a new one. _How? How did this...? What did this...?_ Like a freight train, it hit her, bringing with it a burning anger in the pit of her stomach.

Loki.

"Loki!" Maeve's voice rang out through the trees around her. When all she received was silence, it only spurred her on more. "Loki Odinson, you bastard!"

"Still haven't learned to leash that tongue yet have we?" Came the hissing voice at her ear, making her wheel around to find... nothing.

"You ass!" She spat, spinning trying to catch him in her line of sight. "You – You did _this_ didn't you!"

"Do you really need to ask?" Came the answer after a moment's silence. He appeared on her left, rounding a tree, looking passive and uncaring, though his eyes looked dangerous.

"Why?" It came out as a growl as Maeve turned to stare him down, returning his dark look with one in kind.

"Because I could." No sooner had the words left his lips, than the entire atmosphere of the woods changed. Whatever Maeve had been holding back, keeping caged inside of herself in their last few altercations, almost broke loose. Her entire posture had changed, the look on her face, even her eyes had become cold, dark, but mostly, violently dangerous.

It was taking everything within Maeve to hold herself back. She'd been doing so well so far. _Because I could._ Of all the words in the English language... _Because I could._ ….Of all the ways he could have phrased what he said... _Because I could. …._ Of all the things he could have said... _Because I could._... Those words, those oh too familiar words, that came up from years ago to mock her once again... _Because I could._

 _"_ Go to hell Odinson." She hissed and turned on her heel storming back to her house. As she went to descend the hill she felt a tight grip on her arm, that began dragging her back into the cover of the trees.

"You _will_ watch how you address me woman!" He snapped pulling her close to him, his face in hers.

"My name is Maeve! And I'll speak to you however I like! Let me go!" She swung out, managing to pull free of his grasp, only to be caught up again, this time his hand fisted into the thickness of the collar of her coat, still holding her close.

"I grow tired of your impertinence."

"And I grow tired of you!"

"Well," he sneered, glaring at her. "You, my dear, are the one who holds the remedy to alleviating that. And yet you seem to keep stalling, one would almost think you enjoy having me around this pathetic little hovel you call home. Now, how about you go back down into that pitiful shack and make good on your word to me, before I make you wish you had heeded me the first night." With that he cast her away from. Being so close to the slope of the hill Maeve lost her footing and stumbled backwards before completely losing her footing and falling. She only fell a few feet before she managed to stop herself. Pushing herself up she shook the snow out of her hair, her eyes falling to her muddied clothes. Cutting her eyes up, she caught Loki smirking down at her, a smug grin cutting across his face.

"Oh I'll help you get back alright," she muttered to herself as she got to her feet, knocking muck off of her coat as she turned her back to him. "It'll be a wonder if they even let you back in, God knows I wouldn't, you miserable spoiled brat. No wonder you think they hate you."

"What did you say?" Loki's voice was low and edged with the promise the threat he'd just issued.

"Clearly you heard me." Maeve called over her shoulder, moving to put distance between the two of them. "I didn't stutter."

"I dare you to say it again." He had appeared in front of her, looming over her with his whole height.

"You're nothing more than a miserable, spoiled brat. That clear enough for you?"

"Oh really? And where did you discern that from, hmm? Those books you hide yourself away in? Personal experience?"

"No, you." Maeve stated flatly.

"Don't presume to know me woman. You know nothing about me."

"You're right I don't. I don't know you and I don't want to know you. But what I do know about you, I know because of you. You think I'm miserable? That I'm pathetic? I'm not the one trying to get back to a place that I clearly loathe and despise. That night I found you, that's all that came from your mouth. 'How dare they!' and 'They will pay for what they have done!' over and over again. On and on about how you'd make them pay, how you would wreak vengeance and that they would rue the day they'd ever crossed you. Everything from burning all of Asgard down and leaving it in ruin to being satisfied with just erasing your father from the very history of Asgard, removing any utterance of him until he was nothing but a bad memory.

"You know what, you may be right, I may be out here, by myself and alone, but that's my choice, and you know what? I'm damn happy about it too. Me, I'm the farthest thing from miserable. You? You on the other hand are nothing more than a cranky child whose angry because he didn't get what he wanted-!"

"Silence!" Loki roared, his composure gone and his rage evident on his face. "You know nothing of what I've been through, you know not of how I have suffered; do not pretend to preach to me when you yourself are ignorant of the truth! And what would you know? You, whose life is but a meer flash compared to mine! A bat of an eye in the face of time, is what you are, here in an instant and gone in a flash, while I have lived centuries!"

"I'd rather be a quick spark than be long lived and as dimwitted as you! You think you're the only one who's ever suffered? You think you're the only one who has felt betrayed by those close to you? You're the only one who has ever felt misunderstood, pushed aside, cast out? That you're some sort of monster meant to be kept on the fringe of everything considered 'decent' and 'normal'? You're not the only being to know pain Loki. You think you know pain? Hurt or betrayal? Rejection? I'm not the ignorant one." At this she shoved her way past him and marched off towards the house.

"And if you must know, I came out here to find you so I could ask you something to better help to send you home. But forget it, I'll put together what I've got and you can leave tonight." She called over her shoulder. Having reached the back door she added, turning back to glare at him, "And that's a promise!" With that she promptly slammed the door shut behind her, the force of it dislodging some of the gathered snow on the roof.

Loki remained behind, though his first instinct was to follow after her, invade her house and show her the repercussions of speaking to him in such a way, no one spoke to him like that. No one. But something held him back. It was that nagging question that had been plaguing him ever since his first encounter with her what seemed almost an age ago now. And in her anger she'd let something slip, something in her words that caught his attention.

 _"… That you're some sort of monster..."_ those had been her words. Though it could have been possible that, in his drunken stupor he had uttered such words about himself, about his own fate, but a part of him doubted it. Even if he had, the underlying tone in her voice had been too personal to simply be something that she was throwing back in his face.

 _What am I?_

"Indeed, _what_ are you?"

* * *

Hours had passed since their explosive encounter in the woods.

Loki, using his magic, had let himself in and had settled himself into the living room, one of her books in hand as he lounged in the armchair. The minutes had ticked on into hours, the sun slowly falling towards the horizon, and he hadn't so much as caught a glimpse of her, let alone heard a peep out of her.

She'd shut herself inside of her room, that much was sure, but she hadn't emerged once. Not for food or for any of her materials, nothing. Movement could be heard in her room, at one point he'd even recognized what he thought was the sound of her running water, but still she didn't emerge. Just as the clock above the fireplace was rounding to 7pm, he heard her bedroom door open and the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. The cadence of her steps were different, gone was the usual casual meandering footsteps that carried her from one place to another, in their place, a purposeful, practiced rhythm, and when she rounded the corner he saw why.

Any sharp string of words he could have conjured, died on his lips the moment she came into view. Standing at the kitchen island as though she hadn't even seen him, Maeve arranged the different things that she had carried with her from within her room. Gone where the muddied clothes from earlier, in their place was a form fitting pair of black, high waisted pants, that showed off the lean line of her legs and the soft curve of her hips. A blousy off-white top was tucked in at the waist, with black matching cuffs and collar. She rocked from one foot to the other as she stood there arranging things into a black clutch, a pair of blue high heeled ankle boots donning her feet.

Maeve paused, her eyes cutting to the side as if she'd finally noticed that he was sat there watching her. Gathering up something in her hand she left her other items on the counter as she approached him, again with that practiced self assured cadence. Stepping more into the light he could see that she'd also donned makeup as well. Her eyes line in kohl and her lips painted a deep red, the impact of the difference between days prior and now made even more apparent by just how different she looked with all of her hair gathered back out of her face like that, nestled in an interesting updo. Now as she stood before him, he realized the shirt she was wearing was a bit more sheer than he'd previously noted, when it caught the light just right he could see the hints of an elaborately strappy black bra underneath.

"Here." Was all she said as she dropped a folded wad of paper into his lap.

"And what, pray tell, would this be?" He drawled, not once losing eye contact with her.

"Some people would call it 'a map'." She stated flatly before turning on her heel and moving back toward the counter. As he stood to go after her, he caught the scent of her perfume, it was subtle, but it was there, a much different note than anything she'd worn previously around the house. Giving himself a mental shake he disappeared only to reappear beside her.

" 'A map'?"

"Is there an echo in here?" Maeve looked around comically for a moment, batting her eyes innocently. "Strange. I've never noticed it before."

"What kind of map, woman?"

"The one you wanted, Asgardian." She turned to look at him her lips slightly pursed. "You said you wanted to go home, I told you I'd figure you out a way there, and that I'd do so by tonight. Tada," she added with a wave of one of her hands. "That's what you've got."

With a look of disinterest Loki unfolded the map, his eyes making quick work of scanning over it's surface and discerning the information it held. Spreading it out on the counter before him, he pointed to an area that was circled on the map. "And what exactly is this suppose to be?"

Copying his look of disinterest, Maeve stopped checking over the things in her clutch to glance over at the map. "That," she said placing her finger on the dot in the center of the circle, "would be where I found you. This here," she pointed now to the surrounding circle. "Would be my best estimation of where you should look for however you managed to enter into our world." Turning back to her things she gave a satisfied nod before closing her clutch with a snap.

"I thought you said you knew where you found me. After literal days of deliberation this is the best that you can give me? A 'guess'?"

"I told you I had a question for you earlier, but since you had decided that destroying my property and being an overall prat were more important to you, that's what you get, 'a guess'." Maeve gave a dismissive wave as she moved towards the door, fetching a well tailored leather coat from within.

"Indeed and just where is that you think you're going, hmm?"

"Well I don't see how that's any of your business really." She locked eyes with him again, her painted lips set in a confident smirk to rival one of his own. "But if you must know, I'm going out to celebrate with a friend."

"Oh," he leaned in closer to her, his eyes mocking as he spoke. "And do tell what is the cause for celebration?"

"For her, a new opportunity for her business and hopefully the final nail in the coffin when it comes to her ex. But for me," her smirk bloomed into a full smile as she leaned in closer as well, giving him a quick glance over, before locking eyes with him again. "For me it'll be losing roughly, what 170, 180 lbs of Asgardian dead weight." With that she snatched up her clutch and turned towards the door, calling over her shoulder. "I'd say I'd miss you, but, that'd be a lie."

"Woman." Loki called after her, a part of him greatly bothered by the fact that she would be so flippant with him, while another side, though he'd never admit it, seemed to have grown to enjoy this odd banter between them, even as she walked away from him, blatantly ignoring him. "Maeve." his grin grew as he watched her hesitate at the sound of her name. Turning slowly around, she stared at him for a moment, her face unreadable, frozen almost as if she were lost in time, until a wash of warm light flooded the front of the house, a moment later a knock sounding at the door.

"Goodbye Loki." Was all she said as she turned and slipped out the door, locking it behind her. He could hear her greeting her companion on the other side of the door, a moment later the sound of car doors closing and then they were gone and he was alone.

She was gone. And he was alone.

She was gone... though, her perfume lingered...

Loki looked down at the map spread out across the counter... he had what he'd wanted...

"Damn."

* * *

 _And so ends Chapter 4! It's not where I wanted to stop but it felt the best place to pause for now. The chapter was threatening to become quite the monster in length so I decided to lop it off here._

 _Also long time no see! It's been more than a while and it feels good to be back, especially after dealing with so much nonsense in real life. Anyway, thank you as always for reading, reviews are welcome and appreciated!_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"You know what? I almost thought it was too good to be true! But then, look at you! Here you are! Looking sexy as ever if I may add!"

"Hello to you too Babs." Maeve smirked as the shorter platinum blonde woman hugged her around her waist.

"Jake, tell her you think so too, tell her she's sexy as hell."

"Were I an unattached heterosexual male, I would definitely try to sleep with you."

"Because I'm pretty?"

"Because you're pretty."

"You two are the absolute worst." Babs rolled her eyes as Jake and Maeve snickered. "Here I am trying to give her a genuine compliment and you two go and turn it into a comedic bit. Seriously what am I going to do with you two?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. The way I see it you two had best get off and go grab something to eat before Maeve changes her mind and has me take her back home. Meanwhile I, as the responsible and mature DD that I am, am going to go enjoy whatever double feature they have at the old theater with my wing man. Isn't that right Pay?" At this Babs' young son, Payton, stuck his head out of the backseat window of Jake's SUV.

"We're going to go see a live action Jungle Book and Muppet Treasure Island!"

"I thought you didn't like anything but the Disney version of Jungle Book?"

"Not true, Babs my dear; the one they're showing happens to be the version with Cary Elwes. Be still my beating heart!"

"I should have known."

"I could have told you that." Maeve chuckled watching as Babs shook her head.

"Whose Cary Elwes?"

"He's the blonde one in The Princess Bride." Jake added matter-of-factly as he playfully mussed Payton's hair.

"What's The Princess Bride?" At this Jake blinked, before sharing a look with Maeve.

"Babs we need to talk about what exactly it is you're depriving my godson of."

"Okay, okay enough with you two. Jake you and Payton go before you miss your movies, you're eating into our girl time anyway. You be a good scamp and don't cause Jake any trouble alright? And don't try to eat the whole bag of popcorn by yourself again, or you'll get sick like you did last time." She added leaning forward to place a kiss on Payton's head.

"I won't, Mr. Jake eats it all anyway." He added before settling back into his seat and rolling up the window.

"Lies and slander!" Jake called into the truck before turning his attention back to the two women before him. "Alright ladies, you have a great time, if you need a pick up any sooner just let me know. Eat, drink and be merry, but not too merry, the last time this one got too merry I had to carry her up a flight of stairs. Don't let the size fool you she is heavier than she looks."

"Jake!" Maeve couldn't help but laugh as Jake managed to duck inside of the driver's seat before Babs could actually get a good hit on him. Blowing a kiss and giving a quick wave he pulled away from the curb and away the two went.

"I swear sometimes I wonder about him."

"Yeah, yeah, you say that all the time. You say he's all weird and strange and you don't know what to do with him and then you guys end up watching movies and shooting the breeze like two old farts in rocking chairs on a porch. In the meantime, the one you constantly complain is being to reclusive is actually trying to be 'out and about' and is standing here on the curb starving and contemplating going back home."

"I swear, you're both so dramatic." Babs teased, all in good fun. "Well come on let's head inside before you waste away to a mere waif of your former self."

"Thank God!" Maeve jested as she linked arms with Babs and they made their way carefully across the street and to the little restaurant they had chosen for the evening, some fancy new asian place that Maeve hadn't remember being here the last time she'd come into the city, but that being said she hadn't been "in" for a long while.

Maeve and Babs had met in college, each an oddball in their own right, one would have thought it a stretch that they would ever get along let alone grow to be as close as they had been. Babs had been a bit of a wild child when they'd first met, and though she'd toned it down a little over the last few years, she still was a firecracker. She'd been there for Maeve when others had abandoned her in college and had stuck by her side ever since. They'd had their fair share of blowups with each other but in the end whenever the dust finally settled they managed to come back together and still be okay.

Having been seated, their drink order taken, they were left to look over the menu.

"So, like I said, not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, what brings my little woodland friend out in the big world?"

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of antisocial squirrel."

"Lots of things live in the woods, hon." Babs tutted, her sharp chocolate eyes glancing up over her menu at Maeve, before dipping back down again. "Let's not mince words babe, when you called you sounded like you were pretty desperate to get out of the house, which is odd considering usually it's the opposite. So you want to tell me what's up or you want to just pretend it's nothing and switch to boring small talk."

"Way to go straight for the jugular Babs."

"It's my gift. Now spill it, hon, what's the deal?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to get out and see you, I hadn't seen you in a while." It was only a little lie, and as Maeve glanced over the edge of her menu and made eye contact with the blonde opposite of her she realized it was one that was easily seen through.

"You always do this." Babs sighed flipping to another side of her menu.

"Do what?"

"This. Since we've known each other, you do this thing, at least with me, where you want to meet up, hang out, what have you. You find someway for me and you to be alone together because you need to talk about something, whether you actually are searching for advice or just need to bounce ideas off of someone and make sure what you're thinking doesn't sound crazy or whatever. But instead of just coming out and saying it, I have to badger you until you finally open up and then once all is said and done you then pretend like you didn't even need to talk about anything in the first place. So can we just do both of ourselves a favor and skip through all of that and just get to the meat of things please? While the night is still young?"

Maeve was saved for the moment by the waiter returning with their drinks and to take their orders. After he'd left them, Maeve sighed pinching the bridge of her nose as she thought of a way she could best explain her situation to her friend. How exactly did one even start to share that they'd spent the last week or so living with an old Norse legend?

"I have a bit of a complicated problem."

"Nothing new for us doll."

"Okay, how can I even begin... I've sort of picked up a stray..."

"A stray?"

"Yes," Maeve paused to take a quick drink of her soda. "And I'm not really sure what to do with it."

"Okay." She watched as Babs raised an eyebrow in curiosity but seemed to accept where things were going for the time being. "So what are you going to do with, this stray?"

"I have no clue. I mean I'm sure it has a home, it just... it seems a little lost right now."

"Is it feral?"

"No, though I'm not 100% sure, I mean, he seems to have decent table manners and is relatively house broken." An involuntary frown came to her face as her mind flitted back to this morning. "That said there's a few things that the little monster has wrecked."

"Happens with strays sometimes." It was Babs turn to take a sip of her drink this time as she pondered what she was told. "So are you going to keep it?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if it even knows what it wants. I suppose sending it home would probably be for the best, for both of us."

"Uh huh." Babs gently pushed the stir stick in her drink in lazy circles as she let a brief pause fall between the two of them. "So have you slept with him yet or not?"

Any decorum Maeve had managed to muster while envisioning Loki, the demi god of mischief, as a cat, was all lost as she choked on her drink. Attempting to not spray her soda everywhere she managed to hide everything with a relatively convincing coughing fit, one that would have been more so believable if Babs hadn't been smirking madly from behind her drink.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Hissed Maeve after she finally managed to calm down.

"What? You didn't actually think that I bought that we were actually talking about an animal now did you?" She giggled, the smirk never leaving her face. Their food appeared then. A dance of which hot plate goes where and a polite, 'let me know if you need anything else' later, Babs delicately unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap. "Now, are you going to answer my question or not?"

"No."

"No you haven't done the deed or no you're not-"

"No I haven't. Geez woman!"

"Why not?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because you're my friend, and I think this is actually kind of important."

"Important how?" Maeve narrowed her eyes at the woman across from her. Her initial reaction had been to tell Babs it was none of her business, but the way the blonde seemed to be so certain about her conclusion made her curious.

"Out of the two of us, which would you say is more impulsive?"

"I feel like I'm being set up here."

"You're not, I already know it's me. Please Maeve, pretty much this whole town would say it's me, and I've got no qualms about it in the least."

"So what's that got to do with-"

"You're not. Or should I say, you're very rarely impulsive. So I'm trying to figure out what has changed to lead my rarely impulsive friend to suddenly, or rather, impulsively, shack up with some dude that she barely even knows."

"Okay, one, we're not 'shacking up', he needed a place to stay and that's all he's gotten. Two, he's not a complete stranger, I do know him, and three, I can too be impulsive."

"Right, and I'm a natural blonde." Babs pursed her lips before turning her attention briefly to her plate. Maeve sighed, her brows knitting together in thought, before snagging up a dumpling and stuffing it in her face. Musing over what she had just said, she found it a little funny that she'd dubbed Loki as 'not a stranger', his own words about her knowing truly nothing about him echoing back from earlier. After all outside of books and legends and the little bit of time they'd spent together in her house, what did she really know of him? Well, more than that actually...

"...He needed my help..." Maeve's voice came out barely above a whisper, but Babs managed to catch enough of it to look up, setting her friend with a very steady gaze as she watched her push her food around on her plate. After a moments thought, Babs began shuffling things around on the table.

"Okay look here." Glancing up Maeve saw that she had lined up in the middle of the table the salt, pepper, and soy sauce bottle in a neat little row between the two of them. "Alright, so you and I are going to have a serious talk okay? Now to help facilitate things, these are no longer seasonings. The pepper will represent basic human instinct, our well known decision making 'fight or flight' response that guides most people pretty well. The salt is woman's intuition, that gut feeling that only half of the population has and probably less than that actually listen to. Last but not least the soy sauce will play the part of your... 'extra' sense that you have. Okay?" Maeve merely nodded as she looked at the three different markers on the table. Babs was the only one outside of a very small, select group of people who knew anything 'extra' about Maeve; she had trusted her with small bits of it here and there a long time ago and she had never betrayed her trust.

"Cool." Babs nodded, before continuing. "Okay so with this 'stray', you said he needed your help, which one of these led you to that conclusion?" Without hesitation Maeve tapped the top of the soy sauce bottle with the top end of her chopstick. "Okay, well that answers a few questions real quick. Are the other two signaling anything?"

" 'Leave well enough alone.' 'Jury is leaning to a strong, probably not.'" Maeve tapped the tops of the pepper and then the salt accordingly.

"But they're all being overwritten by this one?" Babs asked pointing to the soy sauce which gained a nod in return from Maeve. "Well geez I guess that answers that. So if that's the case why do you look like you're on the verge of having a mental crisis?"

"Babs, I can't keep relying on... this! It's not normal!"

"Who says it's not normal? It's normal for you. You've lived with it your whole life. Trust me, it may not be 'my' normal but it's your normal."

"True, but, you know what I mean."

"Not really, I mean, has it ever failed you before?"

"No but-"

"Unlike these two," Babs continued tapping the pepper and salt. "Because let's be frank, I don't think this one has ever let you down before, meanwhile the other two have, because let's face it, the other two let everybody down at least once or twice."

Maeve sighed and shook her head as she picked at more of her food, trying to think of how to make Babs understand where she was coming from. But without divulging the whole story how could she even begin to express how bad of an idea it would be to get even remotely close to the demi-god of mischief? This whole thing was not as easy as Babs was making it out to be.

"At the risk of spoiling the whole evening, your trepidation in this situation wouldn't have anything to do with what happened with Ethan, would it?" Babs watched as her friend stiffened, before stabbing a dumpling on her plate with her chopsticks and cramming it into her mouth. "Okay... well I'll take that as a yes."

"Not _everything_ I do has ties to _Ethan Cooper_." Maeve hissed gripping her chopsticks a bit too tightly.

"I'm not saying that it does," Babs began with great care. "What I am... suggesting is that maybe the reason you're not listening to your 'other' gut this time is because last time you feel like it failed you. And while it's understandable, to be completely honest if anyone should be shouldering most of the blame for how that went down, it should be me."

"Babs..."

"No," she gave Maeve a gentle look full of understanding but tinted with a bit of remorse. "I was the one who pushed you into it, I urged you to go outside of your 'comfort zone' and to, if I remember my words well, 'live a little'. You had already started trying to explain things to me, about your other 'intuition' and I all but ignored it in that instance because I thought you were just using it as an excuse to avoid what I thought I was reading as 'sexual tension' between the two of you. If you hadn't listened to me and taken my advice, you wouldn't have ended up in that situation, he'd set out to embarrass you from the start and by you not playing along and leaving got him fired up even more."

"I made the choice to go on my own, it's not your fault-"

"If you say it's yours, then I will continue to say it's mine. I have no problem accepting my part in this. I was a shit friend, and because of me Ethan went a bit off the rails when it came to retaliating." When Maeve went to protest Babs held up a hand to silence her. "Look, he was an asshole and he still is, as far as I'm concerned. That being said, I don't think you should keep punishing yourself over something that happened back when we were in college. At the risk of repeating myself, horribly, maybe instead of advising you to, in this instance, 'live a little', might I suggest instead that maybe you 'live and let live'?"

"What's that suppose to even mean?"

"Well, in this case I'd say just go for it."

"Go for what?"

"I don't know. Whatever it is you're hiding from with this 'stray' of yours. You're avoiding something; you would rather simply not try then risk going out on a limb and potentially getting hurt again. Which hey, you're preaching to the choir at that point because do I know what that is like." A bitter smile crossed Bab's lips as she picked up her drink and took a swig.

"Did you know, I've actually been on a few dates recently?" Babs began again, softly. "Oh they're nothing to write home about, in fact most of them were terrible, but compared Danny, these guys were knights, rusty and dinged up knights, but knights none the less.

"It's taken a lot for me to get back to this point, to actually go past the step of 'wanting to get out and date' and actually doing it, to actively pushing myself to be willing to even try to trust in someone again, outside of my friends. After having gone through everything I have with Danny, nobody would have blamed me for sitting around, shut up in my old place and it just being 'The Bab's and Payton Show' until the kid left for college. But I don't want that for myself, and I don't want that for you. I'm not going to sit here and try and sell you the same nonsense that some of these old birds in town will, getting 'yourself a man' is not a cure-all for all of life's problems. But what I am going to tell you is that you shouldn't hold yourself back just because you're afraid. So I'll leave everything we've talked about so far here, on the table, and I won't bring it up again unless you bring it up first, on the one condition that you promise me, you won't hold yourself back from something just because you're afraid of what might be. Fair?"

After a moment's hesitation, Maeve conceded with a nod. "Fair."

"Good." Her friend smiled giving her hand a gentle squeeze before turning back to the meal at hand. "And who knows, maybe you and this 'stray' will actually do each other some good. My granny always says that similar souls always seek out one another."

"Hmm, right." _Similar souls, huh._ Maeve thought as she began eating once more. _You think you're the only one who's ever suffered? … That you're some sort of monster ... You're not the only being to know pain …_ Maeve picked up her glass to take a drink, _"similar souls" indeed._

* * *

True to her word, Babs didn't bring up "the stray" nor Ethan for the rest of their dinner conversation. Instead talk turned to Babs' future ventures and in turn the eventual adventure of sorts it would take her and Payton on. Though Maeve would certainly be sad to see her friend go, she knew it was what was best for her and Payton, a fresh start of sorts in a new place.

Their bill paid, they sat around for a little while longer, letting their food settle and enjoying the rest of their drinks before donning their coats and heading back out into the night. Stepping out into the night air Maeve took a deep breath, before letting out a puff of steam as the greeter wished them well and warned them to watch for black ice.

"Look at you! How old are you and you're out here all giddy like a kid because you can see your breath in the air? What next, gonna attempt smoke rings?" Babs teased gently as she perused her messages on her phone.

"Any news on the boys?" Maeve asked pointedly ignoring the friendly jab.

"Looks like they're still tied up in the second film, which means we've got time to kill. Hey there's suppose to be this fun new dance spot up the street, you wanna- whoa!" Luck being on both of their sides, Maeve managed to catch hold of Babs' arms and keep them both on their feet as her friend slipped next to her.

"Jeez woman, did you not just hear the guy say watch for ice? What are you danger prone?" She asked trying to stabilize the other woman who had simply dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"No, just lucky I guess." The blonde finally managed between laughing, as she got steady again, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Certainly looks like someone's having a good time." at the sound of the familiar voice Maeve's back went ramrod straight. Her head snapped around, her eyes settling on the small group approaching them; Ethan, a few of his companions and their respective dates all in tow.

"Have a little too much to drink, ladies?" The brunette on Ethan's arm piped up. Though her face wore a smile her eyes were staring daggers at the two women.

"Hardly." Maeve huffed, trying to place the woman's name. She looked familiar enough but she couldn't seem to find a name to go with the face staring back at her. "There's ice on the ground, in case you haven't noticed."

"You're all dolled up." Ethan interrupted before his date could respond. "Special occasion?"

"Yup," it was Babs' turn to cut in, having found her voice. "She's out with me."

"How precious, you're on a date." Ethan's date chirped, her comment earning snickers from the other two couples behind them.

"It's called, Ladies Night Out. We've left the men at home and we come out to have our own fun. It's not that revolutionary of a concept." Maeve shot back. She remembered her now, she had been one of the regulars that hung out with Ethan during their stay at college; Veronica if Maeve remembered right.

At this the shorter woman gave a snort of laughter. "Since when do _you_ have a _man_ to leave at home?"

"For some time now actually." Maeve sniped back. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to lie, she'd never cared what Ethan or any of his hangers-on had thought before, and she certainly didn't now, but for whatever reason she felt possessed to just keep going.

"Really?" It was Ethan's turn now. He stood there staring at her, much as he had in her house just the other day, as if by look alone he thought he could make her buckle somehow. But as it often did, it only served to spur her on.

"Yes really." She added flatly.

"I was just at your house the other day, there wasn't anyone there." He challenged.

"Yeah, to help Frank fix my generator. You were outside, in the hallway and the mudroom, so of course you wouldn't have seen him." She countered rather easily and truthfully enough, after all, while she hadn't been sure whether or not Loki had actually been present in the house while they were there, he certainly wouldn't have been spotted from any of the places that Ethan had been. The thought of her even pretending that Loki was her boyfriend brought an odd smile to her face, one that seemed to not sit well with Ethan.

"Well as lovely as this little run in has been, we really should be going. It really was great seeing all of you again." Babs gave a brief wave as she hooked her arm in Maeve's and directed them across the street away from the others. Once in the clear she started to dissolve into another fit of giggles.

"What?" Maeve glanced down at her friend, almost afraid to ask.

"Where did all of that come from? I thought this guy was just a 'stray'?"

Maeve merely shrugged. "Not like any of them need to know. Let them think what they think. And they were cutting into our girl time anyway. Now about that dance spot you were talking about?"

It didn't take long for them to find their way. Ironically enough it turned out to be a "Ladies Night", which Maeve really didn't care for. Getting in free was neither here nor there, it was the fact that it meant the place was probably going to be stuffed to the gills with people and sure enough it was. After meandering around for some time, floating back and forth between the bar and a spot near the dance floor away from the crush of people trying to get another drink and the crush of those on the floor, Babs tugged on Maeve's sleeve pointing to her phone before thumbing in the direction of the bathroom. Nodding her understanding she watched as the blonde disappeared into the crowd in order to hopefully find a quieter spot in the privacy of the bathroom stalls.

Maeve hung around their little claimed wall spot for a moment longer, until while scanning the room she caught a glimpse of Veronica and not too far off, Ethan. She could feel the faint scowl cutting across her own face as she spotted the two, just as Ethan looked up and found her. Moving away from the wall she made her way into the crush on the dance floor, choosing instead to be lost in the ebb and flow of the dancers and the music than be left with a wall at her back should Ethan decide to approach her even with his date still around.

She had rebuffed a few dance requests earlier in the evening, even now as she moved amongst the crowd, trying to let the music drown out the things that bothered her, she found herself having to wave off yet another over eager would be partner. Just as she was about to lose what little patience she had for the man she felt a hand on her wrist. Turning, a verbal barb at the ready for this new somebody, she paused when she came face to face with the dark haired, green eyed man behind her. In the dim light it seemed as though her eyes were playing tricks on her, it couldn't have been him, and yet... Seeing he'd been denied the other slunk away, melting back into the crowd, gone but already completely forgotten as Maeve stared up into those green eyes... it must have been the light, or lack thereof, but they didn't seem as vivid as they had been in the days before. _No... he must be miles from here now._ He had the map, what reason would he have to stay, to come back, to be here right now; her brain rationalized or at least tried to as she felt two very real hands settle on her hips before sliding around, as she was encircled with those arms and pulled close against his chest.

The combination of the music, the darkness of the space and the occasional quick flash here and there of beads of color zipping here and there, swirling around the dance floor adding to the frenzy of everything else going on around them, but Maeve found herself in a haze. Though the floor was packed, they weren't being crushed by the other bodies nearby and where the music had seemed quite deafing just seconds before, now it sounded muffled as if everything around them had been slowed. At some point she must have turned because now her back rested easily against his chest as their bodies moved in time to the music. _No, not his... just someone who looks like him._ She thought as two very sure hands gripped her hips... _He's long gone by now, why would he stay? Why would he-_ the thought was interrupted by the soft caress of his breath on her neck. Her left hand settled on top of one of his as her right hand snaked back to cup his face as she turned her head to look into those eyes, those burning green eyes.

Then, everything was as it had been, all of it as it should be, jarringly and sudden. Maeve found herself lost momentarily amongst the sea of people that now pressed against her. Fighting her way back to the end of the floor, toward the spot where she and Babs had stood, what seemed like an eternity ago now, she finally managed to separate herself from the mass of dancers. Leaning her back against the wall she could feel her heart racing away inside her chest as she gasped for air, though she knew none of it was from having to push back against the throng of bodies before her to escape the dance floor.

"Maeve?" A hand on her arm drew her attention to a concerned looking Babs who now stood by her side as she called to her above the music. "Are you okay?"

Swallowing hard Maeve merely nodded, which Babs accepted without probing. Holding up her phone she mouthed that it was time to go before intertwining fingers with Maeve and they fell in step, one behind the other out of the club and into the sharp cold of the night air. The cold seemed to help clear her mind somewhat but did nothing to help shake the feeling of uncertainty of what had transpired just moments before. She didn't remember Jake pulling up to the curb, nor him hopping out to help a slightly tipsy Babs in to the passenger seat as he teased her about her choice of footwear. She didn't remember getting in herself in the front seat, nor did she seem to actually see a sleepy Payton snuggle up to Babs as she glanced in the backseat. The ride home was a blur, and it wasn't until she felt Jake touch her arm that she realized they had stopped at the top of her drive.

"Hey, is everything okay? You've seemed out of sorts ever since I picked you guys up?" Jake's concern was evident even as he kept his voice down so as not to disturb the two sleeping passengers in the back.

"No, no... I'm... I'm fine." She answered. The look on Jake's face, however, showed clearly that he wasn't 100% sold.

"Babs mentioned you guys ran into-"

"Jake, no. Really I am fine. I was just- it's just struck me how long it's been since Babs and I have really hung out together like this and that it might be the last time for a long while that we're able to do it. That's all." It was a half truth. Babs and Payton would be leaving soon and it would seem like ages before things would settled enough for trips and visits to take place, but that certainly wasn't the whole truth. How could she possibly even begin to explain what had happened tonight, or what had been happening in her life over the last few days without sounding crazy? And the craziest part of it all was the realization that she'd probably never be able to tell either of them any of it, ever. Loki was gone, her time spent with him would just have been a strange blip on an otherwise steady life course that she had been maintaining up until now. When she walked out earlier, she was leaving all of that... strangeness behind her; walking back in meant going back to the way things had been before and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it.

But her answer seemed to have sufficed for Jake, as he gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah I know, I'm going to miss them both something terrible. But I keep reminding myself that it's all a good thing, that it's what's best for them and as much as I'd like to keep them here, I want them to be happy too." He smiled stealing a glance in the backseat. "It's something they both need, Babs especially, to finally be able to really get away from Danny. Besides, that just means you and I will have to spend more time together. Which means in home movie nights will be switched to your house, just fyi."

"Wait why my place?"

"Because I've seen your entertainment system and it makes mine look like an old time film projector and a bed sheet." He teased. "Now go on, I should probably get these two home before the sun comes up. I'll sit here until you're inside."

"What, worried that I'll be attacked by bears?" Maeve giggled gathering her things.

"Pfft, please if anyone was going to be attacked by bears, it would be me." Jake snickered, waggling his eyebrows.

"What am I going to do with you?" She laughed, stepping out of his truck. "Night Jake."

"Night Maeve." True to his word, as he always did, Jake sat at the top of her drive as she made her way to her front door and let herself in. Bolting the door behind her, she flicked the porch light on and off a few times to let him know she was in and safe, a moment later, he could be heard pulling away and down the road.

And then she was alone.

Making her way to the kitchen Maeve dumped her clutch and keys on the island before shrugging out of her coat and tossing it down next to them. Making her way over to the fridge she pulled out a bottle of wine and decided to pour herself a glass, one final taste before she'd head off to bed.

"Back to normal, hmph, whatever that means." She muttered to herself her strange toast as she settled into one of the chairs near the island, taking a drink.

"I too am curious as to what that means, at least in regards to you anyway." A silken voice crooned from somewhere over her shoulder. Turning around in the chair at an unhurried pace, Maeve found Loki, settled in one of her armchairs, a book in his lap and what appeared to be his own glass of wine on the side table near him.

"You're still here." It wasn't a question, as she took in his presence in her living room, Maeve glanced down at her own wine glass as her brain set to musing away, before taking another drink. "… still here."

"Of course I am," he stated rather blandly though the undertone was still his usual mocking. "You didn't expect me to go out, in the dark, with only a mediocre map as my guide did you?"

Maeve fixed him with a flat look, her face unreadable as she watched him from over the rim of her glass. Just as he had many times before, he disappeared only to reappear right next to her an instant later, looming over her.

Loki watched as only her eyes moved, shifting to lock gaze with him, continuing to give him that odd look as she remained silent.

"What?" He hissed. If he was expecting a major change in her behavior, he received none. He watched as she gave him a slow blink, before turning up her cup and draining the rest of its contents. Sliding out of the chair she leaned across the counter and placed her glass in the sink. Shifting her weight, Maeve reclined against the counter, resting on her elbows as she watched him stand there next to her.

"You just sat over there the whole night?" She finally spoke, snickering when after a moment's silence she realized he was choosing to return her previous one with one in kind.

"Whatever." She snorted, mostly to herself as she leaned over, undoing her shoes before kicking them off to the side. Righting herself, she gave a leisurely stretch, then started to walk off. "I'm going to bed."

"So what if I had been?" He called to her, his voice low. She could almost hear the grin spreading across his face as she came to a stop and turned around. He now lounged against the counter, as he watched her, standing there, pondering. And he waited, wondering what verbal barb would come next as her brows knitted together.

In a few quick strides, Maeve closed the distance between them, coming to an abrupt stop and leaving only a breath of space between them. She stood there for a moment, those strange hazel eyes burning into the vibrant green ones before her. Pushing himself up off the counter, Loki pulled himself up to his full height, attempting to loom over her as a sort of challenge. One that didn't seem to be working.

Quick as a flash Maeve's hands had shot out, hooking themselves into the lapels of his coat, pulling him forward and down just enough so that she could seal her lips against his. A strange sound of surprise issued from the back of Loki's throat as his brain attempted to catch up with what had just taken place, when she pulled away. She stood there for a moment, looking at him without really seeing him, as if she were looking through him almost, her eyes half open, the rest of her still. The smallest of smirks made its way across her face as she released her grip and took a step back. The stunned look on Loki's face quickly bled away in to what one could only assume was anger as he glared at her before hissing, "And _what_ , exactly was _that_?"

"Testing a theory." Was the only response she gave. Maeve's eyes finally flicked up to look him in the face, her expression unreadable not because of it's passiveness but because of the fact that he wasn't exactly sure what the smile she sported meant.

"Oh," he grumbled, as he looked down his nose at her, attempting what he thought was a withering glare. "And were the 'results' of your 'test' satisfactory."

"Yup." Was her only response. Turning on her heel, Maeve started making her way towards the hallway. "Night."

She made it as far as the door of the guest bedroom, when he appeared in front of her, blocking her way. They both stood there, neither one giving an inch but at the same time neither pressed forward, until he moved.

Darting in, his arms encircled her, pulling her against him as his mouth came down on hers, his kiss far more intense and much more demanding than hers had been. When he pulled away it was evident on his face that he was pleased to find her breathless.

"And that?" She asked her eyes locked with his as an eyebrow raised with her question.

"Testing a theory." Loki smirked tossing her words back.

"And?" The demi-god merely grinned as he took a step forward, his smile growing wider as she took a step back, backing up against the door to the guest bedroom.

"Oh, yes." He gave a low laugh as he descended once again, their mouths meeting as someone's hand fumbled with the doorknob, sending both of them stumbling into the room, the door slamming shut behind them.

* * *

Moonlight crept through the window at the foot of the bed, but the view wasn't quite right... or was it...?

It took her a moment to realize that the bed she was sat up in, wasn't her own, well it wasn't her bed in her bedroom. Her half awake brain had begun to wonder what was it that had caused her to sleep here when she felt a hand splay across her stomach. The memories started flooding back then, quick flashes, hungry mouths devouring one another, tangled limbs, hot flesh and greedy hands.

The hand on her stomach slowly ascended, coming to a stop against her sternum. She hadn't noticed the bed shift, but she did notice the breath that tickled her ear, sending a shiver through her that left goosebumps in its wake.

"I'm not finished with you yet." The chuckle that followed was dark and full of promises that earned an excited grin from her, before she was pulled back down, back to the mattress, out of the moonlight and into all of those dark promises.

* * *

In the wee hours was when he woke.

The sun had yet to rise, and if he had bothered to look out the window, the gray skies above would have led him to believe that there would be no sun, not this day.

When he woke he found himself next to her, the woman.

 _Maeve._ He could almost hear her voice in his head now, insolent and stubborn as always, correcting him in the way he chose to address her. He looked at her now, as she lay, wrapped in the covers, completely taken over by sleep, kissed bruised lips parted slightly as she dreamt, her face barely a breath away from his.

In that moment he recoiled, immediately withdrawing from her. Not because of her proximity, but because of his reaction to it. Disappearing from her side he reappeared, standing, next to the bed, his heart racing as a torrent of strange feelings started to course through him. But she slept on. A flick of his wrist and he was dressed, his clothes, his coat, his cloak, donned. Another twist and he was gone. Gone from the room, gone from the house, gone.

Outside, he found himself on the wooded hill that overlooked the small house, his breath coming in faster gasps now. As if he were a drowning man just pluck from the sea, starved for air.

 _What was that!_ Hissed the voice in the back of his head. _What. Was. That!?_ It demanded an answer, something to satisfy it but he had none. Nothing came to mind as an answer, just a burned image of him laying next to her, her face so close, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist, ensuring that the closeness remained.

When she'd left him last evening, his brain had been ticking away. He could have left but something stopped him, he was almost certain that it was his subconscious reprimanding him, displeased with the fact that while he had received the map, he had not received an answer as to what it was that she was. The riddle that had kept him around the area had yet to be solved and it looked as though it never was going to be.

A second line of thought had begun, however, claiming that the "riddle" had just been a poor excuse. That what he really had wanted, what it was that he really had sought, had been far more base and simplistic than that, for even gods had urges, desires, wants. Maybe that had been the true reason as to why he had found her even remotely fascinating. On Asgard no woman would have dared speak to him the way she had and thus she had appeared "different", more enticing than others that had taken no swaying at all to be invited into his bed. He only needed to prove it, she was merely an obsession of the flesh, once satiated, she would be nothing once again.

This is what he thought, and this is what should have happened, but at the very base of his mind, within its depths, a small nagging had begun to make itself known.

 _Damn her._ He mentally spat. _And her riddles. Damn them both!_

And with that, Loki, the god of Mischief, vanished.

* * *

She knew she was alone, even before she opened her eyes.

Shifting in the bed, Maeve stretched, then allowed her body to fold back in on itself, as she curled into the bed and the covers, her eyes staring out into the empty room. This lasted only a moment before she kicked away the covers and pulled herself out of bed. She walked past the clothes scattered here and there, out of the guest bedroom and down the hall into her own, and straight into the bathroom suite.

The hot water from the shower felt good on her scalp, as well as the rest of her as it coursed down from the shower head, the steam from the shower rending the room almost as foggy as she felt.

Leaving the warmth of the shower she wrapped herself in a towel, and with a quick swipe of her hand cleared enough moisture from the mirror to see herself. Those hazel eyes watched their reflection as she removed what remains of makeup that has still remained even after the shower. She brushed her teeth as more of the mirror cleared, her eyes taking note of the occasional bite mark that dotted her shoulders, knowing there were similar ones elsewhere. Wrapping her hair in a towel she left the bathroom and dressed, jeans and a sweater, something warm and cozy before making her way to the kitchen.

Throwing together a simple breakfast she sat at the counter, eating as though nothing had changed.

 _Because it hasn't._

Maeve hadn't expected him to be here when she woke up. She'd had a good feeling that when she opened her eyes next it would be to an empty bed and an empty house. And she told herself she was fine. What else was there for her to do about it? He had his map, of course he was going to leave.

… _Testing a theory..._ she smirked to herself. She'd gotten her answers, she was satisfied enough in that.

Reaching over to the pile of things she'd left on the counter, she dug through her clutch, unearthing her phone to see if there was any charge after not having been plugged in at all that night, only to find a slew of missed calls.

"What the hell-?" An intense pounding at the front door, interrupted her thoughts, stealing her attention away from the phone.

"Maeve! Maeve are you in there? Maeve!" In between the series of knock came a shout from the other side of the door. Getting to her feet, she hurried to the door.

"Jake? What the heck-"

"Oh thank God you're okay." Her friend stood in her doorway, panting and disheveled; the concern on his face quickly melting away into relief. "We've been trying to call you- after I didn't hear from you I thought-"

"Who? What's going on-"

"-Get your things we have to go-"

"-Jake I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong-"

"-Babs is in the hospital-"

"-What!?-"

"-And Payton is missing!"

* * *

 _I'm a stinker._

 _Though to be fair, there are plenty of other cliffhanger points that I could have left this chapter at but I didn't. That also being said, I did leave the last chapter on a mild cliffhanger as a way to try and shorten that chapter to a more "manageable" length, and then I go and write this behemoth. Ah well, such is life! As always thanks for reading, and reviews or comments, as always would be greatly appreciated._


	6. Chapter 6

_Well let's just jump in and get things started shall we?_

* * *

Chapter 6

For the second time in under 24 hours Maeve experienced a car ride that she didn't exactly remember happening. After Jake had blurted out the news, they'd left almost instantly. At the beginning he'd tried to explain what had happened, that he'd dropped off Babs not long after he'd left her, he'd even helped tuck Payton in for the night, that she'd locked up, that everything was fine. Frank and one of her neighbors had found her, they'd seen the door standing wide open. He'd been the one to call Jake.

Any hopes of conversation had died after that. Jake had become too upset rethinking everything and Maeve had just sort of shut down, still in shock. When they finally arrived, they met Frank in the waiting room, he told them that Babs had come out of surgery and had been moved into a room not long after Jake had left to get Maeve. The three of them milled about the waiting room, time a lost concept as they waited for more news. At some point Mabel had arrived and had tried to coax both Jake and Maeve away from the waiting room with the promise of food, by sheer determination alone she finally managed to steer Maeve down the hall at least to the vending machines. Both of them knew that bottle of water that was purchased was only to placate Mabel's well meant pestering. The older woman guided Maeve around, taking her out a side door, around through a green area and then back to the waiting room, the whole time without saying a word. When they arrived back Maeve saw Jake standing off to the side speaking with two officers.

"They're just asking him about last night." came Frank's voice through the mental haze, accompanied with a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder. She hadn't noticed Mabel letting go of her hand, nor her moving away to speak with a nurse who'd approached them from behind.

"Maeve dear," Mabel tugged at her sleeve, prompting her to turn around. "She said that Babs is asking to see you, she'll take you back to her." Maeve nodded and fell in step behind the nurse. Along the way she gave her a brief rundown of what to expect, to try to keep Babs calm because even though she was awake and up she was still more than likely exhausted from a combination of the ordeal and the medication that they had given her.

Maeve took a step into the room, quiet as can be, braced for what she might find, letting out a small breath of relief when she realized, that while still not in the best shape, Babs wasn't as bad as she'd feared; whatever consolation that was. The blonde was sat up, watching the nurse next to her fiddle with something, on spotting Maeve she gave a weak, half smile and the nurse excused herself, leaving the two women alone in the room together. She moved over to the side of the bed, settling in the chair that had been placed next to it; both women sat staring off into space, neither one ready to look the other in the face just yet, only the dim hum of machinery filled the silence.

"Babs… I-"

"Please don't say you're sorry. God only knows that I'll hear that enough when Jake gets in here." Babs gave a soft hollow laugh, her hands absently picking at the threads of the blanket. "At least he didn't break any ribs this time."

"Babs stop." Maeve struggled to keep her tone even and gentle. She didn't like what she was seeing, aside from Babs' current physical appearance, the bruises, the scrapes; the split lip and the blackened eye, she was having an even harder time accepting that just a few hours ago Babs had been bubbly, excited, and so sure of herself. Now to see her possibly slipping back into what she had been a few years before…

"He's got Payton. He took Payton, Maeve, and I don't know what I'm going to do if-" Babs began after a long stretch of silence; her voice was small and strained, as she tried to hold back the dam that was keeping her emotions in check.

"Stop." Maeve took Babs' smaller hand in hers, giving it, what she hoped, was a reassuring squeeze. "Payton is going to be fine. They're going to find him and he's going to be okay. Dan's an asshole, but even so he's not enough of an asshole to-"

"To what? To hit a kid? That's why I left remember? You even said so yourself, there was no way- that if he'd hit me what was to stop him from- I know you're trying to be supportive right now but don't lie to me."

"I'm not," Maeve took a breath before slouching into her chair. "I'm not trying to lie to you… I don't know what to say, Babs, that's all." As she tried to think of something else to add, a wave of unease began to creep through her, followed closely by a sense of dread, causing her to gradually tense up, as if she were expecting a great blow to strike.

"Say you'll find him." her voice had been low, but Maeve had heard it, even though she wished she hadn't. She sat there unmoving, the whir of machinery seemed to dim, as though even they were holding their breath, waiting to hear her answer.

"...Babs, you don't know what you're asking-"

"I'm asking you to find him, to find Payton. You can, can't you?" Maeve's hesitation and her refusal to look Babs in the face was all the answer the blonde needed. "Maeve! Please!"

"Babs I can't-"

"Yes you can! You know you can!" the hand she'd been cradling just a moment before for reassurance was now squeezing hers with a sense of desperate urgency. "You've said so yourself, you can sense things, about people. You can use that to find wherever he's hidden Payton."

"We don't even know if Dan's got Payton." Maeve offered feebly, feeling more and more like her hand was caught in a trap instead of the grasp of a friend.

"Don't give me that! We both know it was him, hell this whole town would probably point to him!"

"The cops-"

"Aren't going to find him soon enough! They're not going to know where to look. Maeve, I know the statistics, I know what his chances are. Please, you've got to find him, you're the only one who I know for certain can do this. Please! You have to help me, I'm begging you!"

"You don't understand," Maeve finally turned , locking eyes with her friend, trying her hardest to convey how she was feeling. "It's not that I don't want to help Babs, I would in a heartbeat if I thought that I could do anything to help bring Payton home. But you have to believe me when I say I can't, please, trust me on this. I know you're hurting and I know you're scared, but you don't know what you're asking me to do, so please… just… just trust me when I say I can't. I-"

"I'll tell."

With those two words, Babs had managed to render Maeve completely speechless; it felt as though a freight train had slammed into her at top speed. A torrent of emotions flared up within her and it took every fiber of strength she had to hold them all back and keep from lashing out at her friend, trying to remind herself of what the nurse had said, about her ordeal and the medications… but it wasn't helping. Maeve began to fold inside of herself, she could feel it as piece by piece, different parts of her folded back in on themselves, as her body tried to disconnect from what was happening as an act of self preservation.

"You don't mean that." her voice came out low and a bit hollow. She could tell by the way Babs' grip on her hand flexed, that even she was caught off guard by how strange her voice sounded.

"I do," Babs pressed, with a sense of forced confidence that both women knew she didn't wholly feel. "I will, I will do it. I will tell. I don't care if they all think I'm crazy, someone will believe me, they're bound to. I will do it, I-"

"You said you were my friend." Maeve finally looked back at her, her eyes narrowed, both her gaze and her voice carrying the same sharp edge of hurt.

"And you said you were mine! Friends help each other!" they became locked in a silent contest of wills, neither one willing to cave as they stared each other down. After a long and tense stretch, Maeve finally broke the silence.

"No."

The initial shock of her refusal only lasted a brief moment, before Babs' face became a mix of rage and anger.

"Get out." she ground out, between clenched teeth, tossing Maeve's hand away. Without another word, Maeve stood to leave, refusing to look at Babs as she went. As she reached for the handle the door opened, Jake on the other side; she didn't hesitate though, moving to step around him just as a cup hit the edge of the doorframe, splashing them both with water.

"What the hell-?! Maeve! Hey where are you going?" she left the both of them behind her, Jake calling after her, confused, and Babs…

She didn't care, she couldn't. Not right now. Because that's what had gotten her into this mess in the first place wasn't it? That she cared too much, trusted too much. Again.

Her furious pace carried her down the hall, out past the waiting room and onward. Lost inside her own mind her feet took her out of the hospital and down the street, pointing her to the edge of town and the long walk home. So caught up she was she didn't notice the truck that had caught up to her and was keeping pace beside her right away, not until the window rolled down, but she kept walking.

"Maeve." it was Frank. His voice sounded tired, but mostly it was calm, mixed with understanding. "Come on, get in, I'll drive you the rest of the way." She gave no reaction to his offer. Not until she got to an intersection did she finally come to a stop as she waited for a clearing to cross, and Frank waited too, idling, saying nothing. Finally she stepped off the curb and climbed into the truck, saying nothing as she strapped herself in and Frank pulled away.

They rode in silence; Frank content to let the quiet fill the cab and Maeve refusing to give a voice to the thoughts and emotions coursing through her. Her forehead rested against the window, the coolness of the glass felt good against her skin, but it did nothing to ease her churning mind.

Eventually the truck came to a stop, putting it in park, Frank turned it off, letting out a sigh as he relaxed back against the seat, staring straight ahead.

"What did she say?" he asked finally, looking over at her. She said nothing, merely gathering her few things and let herself out of the truck. As she turned to shut the door, Frank began again, one last attempt to get her attention. "Look, don't… Go get some rest okay? Everybody's on edge right now, with all that's happened, it's only expected. Just go in there and get you some rest, you hear me Maeve? You rest up and leave things to others to worry about. Okay?"

She gave no response, just a slow blink before shutting the door and walking away. After letting herself in she dumped her things on the counter, kicking off her shoes as she went, leaving them and her jacket where they fell. She meandered over to the couch where she promptly slumped into the cushions, cocooning herself within the blanket draped across the back and curling onto her side Maeve felt… lost.

It had been a long time since she had felt this distant from everything. Her thoughts continued to spin in circles, chasing after each other but providing no conclusion, only more chaos and a greater sense of being lost. The shrill ring of the phone pierced through the otherwise silent house, but Maeve didn't move. When the answering machine picked up it was Jake's voice that came through the speaker.

"Maeve, hon, come on, pick up. Frank says he took you home, I know you're there love, come on, just answer the phone." there was a pause as he waited, before a sigh could be heard. "Give me a call when you get this okay? Please?" There was a click and the call ended; she didn't move.

Her cell phone began to chirp from the countertop, but she still refused to budge. One after another they came, the messages left on either the cell or the house phone, text messages flooding in; steady they came and yet and still Maeve did not move from her spot on the couch. Behind a thick blanket of cover the sun crept its way across the sky, never once peeking through on its journey. Minutes became hours and still she refused to acknowledge any of the calls.

When her eyes finally seemed to regain some semblance of focus she saw that the clock on her entertainment system read some time after six. The messages had stopped some time ago, leaving the house in an uneasy silence. Finally Maeve moved, uncurling her legs and setting her feet to the floor as she righted herself on the couch. Her mind had cleared hours ago, all that was left was a final resolution. Standing, her body felt heavy, as she made her way over to the counter for her phone. Glancing at the screen she took stock of all of the missed calls and unread texts. A majority were from Frank and Jake, checking in or attempting to anyway. It looked like at one point even Mabel had given calling her a try. But none of them were the number that she was looking for. She didn't have to scroll far to find it, selecting it she raised the phone to her ear as it rang. There was the click of the call being picked up at the other end, but she was greeted with a hesitant silence.

"...Maeve-"

"I'll do it."

"Maeve I-"

"-Don't… After this, don't call me anymore." Before the woman on the other end could say anything Maeve hung up, dropping her phone onto the counter as she moved away. As she moved towards the hallway she could hear her phone ringing again, tolling away on the countertop, but she ignored it, her mind made up. A semblance of guilt had already worked its due diligence on her, now with her mind set to its task she wouldn't be turned away from it. Babs wanted her help, fine, then help she would. But it came at a cost and it seemed their friendship was it.

The light was dimming outside, almost completely snuffed out, as her feet stepped down onto the cold tile floor of the mud room. Taking a breath, she let it out slowly, before pulling her sweater over her head. Her undershirt followed next and so on until she stood in the mudroom completely bare, but unphased by the cold. Hand on the knob to the back door Maeve took another breath, letting this one out slowly too. Opening the door she was greeted by the coming night, the faint traces of remaining twilight, as she stepped out, barefooted. Pulling the door shut behind her Maeve made her way up the hill behind her house, pass the treeline and back further still until the woods swallowed her up. After she had walked a ways she paused, coming to a stop she closed her eyes, taking in and releasing another slow breath she stood still, openning a part of her mind that she usually fought to keep closed off, and listened.

There was nothing at first, nothing but silence as she tilted her head and listened. But she didn't have to wait long. Soon they came flooding towards her, the voices, some far more distant than others, but they came, each calling out for a different reason. She sifted through them, pushing one after another aside as best as she could seeking out the one in particular that she was after, until she found it.

 _Payton._

Her eyes snapped open, before narrowing as she gazed off into the direction that she had turned towards. A deep feral snarl sounded in her chest as she sprung forward, her long purposeful strides carrying her with ease towards her goal.

 _I'm coming Payton._

* * *

On the far edges of the outside of town, a ride that would take maybe a little over three hours, sat a quiet little cabin. Parked next to it a camper van that hadn't moved since the snow had begun, a pickup and an SUV. It sat snugged up close to the edge of the woods that were to it's back; the smoke curling lazily out of its chimney would have made the sight almost picturesque and homey, if it weren't for the occupants that were settled within.

"He's too old to be dragging around some stuffed rag."

"Oh, leave him alone, Dan. All kids have their favorite toy." a young brunette woman hissed over her shoulder at the scowling man as she sat on the floor, placing herself on a similar level to the small boy who sat curled up in the corner of the arm chair. Turning her attention back to him she smiled. "I used to have a bunny I'd carry around with me all the time. What do you have there Payton?"

Payton's eyes slowly turned to face the woman who crouched in front of him, eyeing her for a moment before pulling the stuffed toy from inside of his coat, holding it where it could be seen but not handing it to her.

"Oh it's a puppy!"

"He's not a dog." he corrected, his voice still quiet. "He's a wolf. His name is Luca."

"Oh, I'm sorry." the woman smiled, reaching forward and shaking one of the paws that nearest to her. "My apologies Luca, I didn't know that you were a wolf, my mistake. My name is Gwen, it's lovely to meet you." Turning her gaze back to Payton she continued. "You know Luca is a very nice name. Do you know it's a name that has meaning?"

"It means 'light'." Payton answered after nodding.

"That's right! How'd you know that?"

"My friend told me, when she gave him to me. She's told me all kinds of things. She said wolves are protectors, that they keep those around them safe."

"Your friend sounds very smart. What's her name?"

"Maeve."

"Alright, playtime is over." Danny strode over to the pair, arms crossed over his chest, a severe look on his face as he eyed the two. " Enough nonsense, It's time for bed."

"It's not nonsense!" Payton challenged. "Maeve said-"

"She's nuts. Wolves don't protect people, they kill and eat people, especially small children. I don't know why that woman lets you around that psycho. Room now!" Payton made to protest, but thought better of it; jumping down from the chair he ran from the room, slamming the door behind him as he hid in the small bedroom off the main living space.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Gwen glared up at him before getting to her feet. "Was that really necessary Danny?"

"Did you hear all that nonsense? 'Maeve said this', 'Maeve said that', 'wolves protect'." Danny rolled his eyes as he mocked Payton's pitch. "That woman is a lunatic and the fact that he's been spending so much time around her is a problem. He shouldn't be playing with dolls at his age."

"He's a child! Let him have some fun with his imagination. And it's not a doll, it's a stuffed animal and it's completely normal. Like I said, I had a bunny I dragged around way past his age. S.C. was one of my favorite toys for the longest time, even past childhood." Gwen huffed as she moved over to the small kitchen space, picking up the cup of cocoa she'd intended to give to Payton, drinking it herself so it wouldn't go to waste.

"'S.C.?"

" 'Skull Crusher'. Lady Skull Crusher, to be exact. Mom suggested we shorten it to S.C. as the general public may not understand just how special she was." Gwen snickered from behind her mug. "Anyway, I don't see what the big deal is. Clearly whoever Maeve is, she important to him and she seems to be a good influence-"

"She's not. What she is, is insane. And we're done discussing her." Danny added, before sitting on the couch, his back to Gwen.

"Okay. Fine." Gwen sighed, turning to clean out her cup in the sink. Gwen and Danny had known each other in a roundabout way since college. She remembered running into him her freshman year, they lived in the same dorm, a floor a part, so she saw him often and they even had a few classes together. They'd kept in touch, but they'd never been very close. But Gwen had a soft spot for helping people, so when she'd received a text about him needing a place to stay when the power had gone out in his apartment while he'd had his son staying with him she couldn't find it in her to say no. In their time apart she'd almost forgotten how mercurial his moods could be. She was aware that he and his ex were probably not on the best terms, but he couldn't understand his outright disgust for the woman Payton had named as Maeve.

Whatever the case may be she also realized it wasn't her place to push, she'd leave it well enough alone for now, maybe ask in the morning. Leaving the kitchen she'd been about to go grab down some blankets from the hall closet to give to Danny so he could crash on the couch when a pair of headlights flooded the living space with light.

"Who the hell is that?" Danny was up on his feet now, a glare alternating between her and the front door.

"Um, language. There is a child in the house." she glared back at him confused by his reaction, moving toward the door anyway as she heard a car door closing outside. Grabbing one of the coats that hung by the front door, she stepped out onto the porch, a smile coming to her face when she saw who was trudging up through the snow. "Chris Cooper, as I live and breathe, look at you! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Geez, Gwen, you sound like an old lady when you talk like that." Chris teased as he climbed her front stairs. Holding up the box he'd tucked under his arm, Chris grinned. "I came to bring back your radio. It's all fixed and should work good as new now."

"You didn't have to bring that out here tonight." Gwen gave him a sweet smile as she took the box from him. "This could have waited until the morning you know. Better than to have you out on some of these back roads so late. I'd feel terrible if something happened to you."

"Don't worry about it." he waved her off. "I needed the distraction anyway, what with everything going on I couldn't stand to be at the hospital anymore so I figured I'd run some of gramps' errands for him. You know, keep busy."

"The hospital? Is everything okay? What happened?"

"Gwen it's been all over the tv and everything, how do you not know?"

"Know what? Here," realizing as she balanced the radio on her hip that they were still standing out on the porch in the snow and the cold, she waved him on to come inside. "You know I don't have cable, I just stream stuff online, I get my news from the radio, now what's been going on?"

Chris began to explain when a silhouette filled the doorway, blocking both of them from entering, the person receiving a glare from Gwen as they stood between them and the warmer inside.

"Danny what is wrong with-"

"Danny?!" Chris's jaw dropped. "Where the heck have you been!? Half of the city is looking for you! Haven't you heard what happened? Babs is in the hospital and they've put out an alert because Payton's missing."

"What?" Gwen's gaze flicked back and forth between Chris and Danny, confusion etched all over her face. When the realization hit her Gwen wheeled around on Danny, her eyes huge and her mouth hanging open. "You- You lied to me- What did you do!?" It was Chris's turn to look confused now, as he watched Gwen advance on Danny, fit to be tied, and looking every bit ready to claw his eyes out. She came to a stop, however when Danny pulled a shotgun she hadn't seen him bring in with his things earlier and leveled it on the two of them.

Chris grabbed at the back of Gwen's coat, pulling her backwards as he started to move them backwards toward the stairs, the radio in Gwen's arms forgotten as it dropped to the porch with a loud crash. "Danny... " Chris tried to keep his voice calm as he kept his eye on the man in front of him.

"You should have just waited until the morning to bring that thing. We would have been gone by then." He glared at both of them. "Move."

"Danny, I wasn't kidding, practically half of this town is out searching for you and the other half is looking for Payton. Please, just, let's think about this for a sec okay?" Chris had managed to maneuver himself and Gwen down the first two steps easily enough.

"There's nothing to think about. Now move."

"Danny-"

"I said _move!_ " Danny's boot hit Chris square in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards off the stairs, landing hard on his back. Taking her eyes off of Danny for the first time Gwen spun around and raced down the stairs, kneeling down next to Chris who wasn't moving. In the dim wash of light coming from inside of the house, Gwen realized where he'd landed; the edge of her walkway was lined with rocks, long since covered by the snow.

"Danny he needs help. He's hurt!"

"He should have kept his nose out of other people's business."

"Danny-!"

" _Shutup!_ " he barked, moving down the stairs, standing over top of them both, no sign of remorse evident anywhere on his face. Gwen shrank back when he yelled at her, she'd never seen Danny like this before; she moved slowly, holding her hands up in front of her, palms facing him as she began again softly.

"Okay, okay." when her eyes drifted to her hands though she turned them over to look at them and began shaking. "He's bleeding, he's hurt bad. Please, just let me call someone for him. I won't tell them that you and Payton were here, just- please! He could die out here!"

"Such a shame." Danny tutted, again not moving any closer and not showing that he cared in the least. He started at the two of them before once again lifting the shotgun and leveling it on Chris first. "By the time anyone gets here it's going to be too late anyway, might as well do him a favor, put him out of his misery."

"Danny! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Now, now." he smirked at her over the barrel. "There's a child around, language."

The stillness of the night was marred by the sound of a loud roar, a sound so unearthly, so unnatural that it caught both Danny and Gwen's attention, chilling them both to the bone as their heads snapped around looking for it's source. In her cursory glance Gwen happened to look up, spotting a strange shadow move from the side of the cabin, it's sheer size, shape and speed caused her to go pale as she screamed. Startled by her scream, Danny's attention snapped back to her before he pivoted to see what she was staring at. The shadow stepped from behind the camper van, growing in size as it stepped into sight, it's eyes reflecting the oddly in the dim wash of light as it pulled itself to its full height, all the while a low snarling growl could be heard coming from it.

Before them stood a massive beast, covered head to toe in a thick fur as dark as the night around it, it's gray and green eyes locked solely on Danny baring its sharp teeth as the snarl grew louder. Its ears lay flat against its head as its hackles bristled; Gwen couldn't believe what she was seeing, it must have been some sort of dream, or nightmare. Creatures like this didn't exist. Dogs weren't that huge, and they didn't stand like that, on their back legs.

Whatever fear Danny had when he first saw the creature was gone now, as he remembered he had the shotgun still with him. Leveling it on the beast, the two of them squared off, almost as if this were a game of chicken, one that they both seemed to understand only one of them would win. They stared each other down, until the beast made its move, lunging forward. A loud report was heard as Danny fired, the slug hitting the creature in its right shoulder, but it didn't seem to slow it down at all as it charged ahead, slamming into Danny and taking him to ground.

Gwen screamed again as she watched the creature slam into Danny, watching as it wrenched the shotgun away, the barrel twisted as though it were nothing more than a coat hanger. She sat there, frozen in fear, as she watched the two of them go at it, the creature clearly had the upper hand.

"Stop!" Gwen cried out, finally having found her voice. The beast's ears perked up, and it turned, its eyes falling on her. She could feel herself shaking as the creature's gaze passed over her, its eyes scrutinizing her. Whatever ferocity it had in its features was gone as it watched her. It didn't snarl or growl, its teeth weren't bared, just those big strange, almost soulful eyes watching her. It seemed like a lifetime passed within that moment, Gwen could have stayed lost in those eyes forever, but the stillness of the night was once again pierced, the shrill sound of sirens could be heard, turning to look behind her she saw the lights of the advancing cars. When she turned back the creature had risen, once more pulling itself to its full height as it watched the squad cars careening down the drive, before it took off, blending back into the shadows of the night as it darted back into the woods behind the house.

Gwen sat in shock.

She didn't notice the officers coming towards her, the ones that swarmed her to see if she was okay, the others that broke off and went to Danny where he lay, barely moving, moaning, while others still took the stairs of her cabin two at a time as they entered the house in search of Payton. There was someone asking her questions, asking her what had happened, if she was okay, but her eyes were still locked onto where the creature had disappeared to.

Eventually she turned to answer questions, she watched as Chris was carried away by emergency responders. Someone had draped her in a blanket and escorted her to a car where they settled her in the backseat. Looking around she saw Payton being loaded into another one, the last thing she saw were officers with flashlights at the ready, shining them on the snow as they spotted huge tracks that they couldn't explain. With dogs and back up at the ready they made their way into the woods following the trail as the car she sat in pulled away, taking her towards town as large fluffy snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.

* * *

Hours after she'd left, Maeve came staggering out of the woods. Her exhaustion evident by her dragging as she walked on wobbly legs from the treeline to her back door. A heavy snow had started to fall long before she'd reached the house, even now big wet snowflakes came careening down from the dark night above, landing all around her, sticking to her hair and lashes. She was a few feet shy from the door when she dropped down into the snow, her arms wrapped around herself, her breathing labored. Swallowing hard she pushed herself on, getting back to her feet she made it the rest of the way inside, dropping to the cold tile floor the moment she had shut the door and latched it behind her.

Maeve lay there, the cool tile soothing her burning skin. Her arms wrapped around her, clutched her sides tighter as she felt another spasm grip her muscles, making her whole body tense as she lay there. She couldn't remember the last time she'd let the change take hold of her, but it seemed her body did, as it complained as it had changed back, aching and tensing as another spasm passed through her, this one leaving her gasping. She would get through this, she knew, she could even tell now as the last spasm went through her that it was in fact the last one and her body was finally coming down from the rush. Her skin no longer felt hot and too tight, cooling and feeling less of a sharp difference between the tile and the surface of her face.

Just as she was trying to convince her tired body to move from the floor, she felt something heavy settle over her. Looking up she found herself draped in a thick fabric; her fingers gingerly touched it, she recognized this… Looking up her eyes met Loki's. Neither of them said anything as they looked at one another. As silently as he had approached, he left, turning on his heel, moving down the hall and back to the living room.

It wasn't long before she followed him. He knew she would, what he hadn't expected was the edge that had come over her when she came into view. They stood there, squared off, he a neutral and unreadable mask on his face, she, her eyes aflame, her shoulders back and spine straight, his cloak a shroud that hung, still draped on her shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" she was the first to break the silence. Her tone was not welcoming and had a sting to it he hadn't expected, but it did not show on his face.

"You got what you wanted." she began again, her eyes narrowing as she watched him before advancing slowly. "Now get out," she practically growled, grinding out the words through her teeth. "You're not welcome here." With a quick flourish Maeve pulled his cloak from her shoulders with her left hand, tossing it at him. It was then he noticed she was favoring her right arm. Loki's gaze drifted briefly to his cloak as it landed at his feet, before moving back to her. He saw the dark mark on her shoulder and while he was curious as to its cause he chose to ignore it for now as he locked eyes with her again, before steadily advancing himself.

"Three guesses." he watched the fire in her eyes grow as he spoke and drew closer. "You said I had three guesses and that if I were correct, you would allow me to stay."

"You had your chance-"

"You are not human." he interrupted, continuing to come closer. Loki watched as she glared back at him, holding her ground and not cowering in the slightest. "At least not as human as some."

"This game is over! I want you gone-!"

"Guardian." Loki watched as Maeve paused, hesitating for the briefest of seconds after he'd spoken. Seeing an opening he took it. "That's what you are, isn't it. Watcher of the lost, protector of children, guardian of the wounded. I didn't see it at first, but it all makes sense now. And your research, you're not just looking for stories, for tales, you're looking for information, for breadcrumbs to lead you to others like yourself." They now stood toe to toe, Maeve not giving an inch but Loki also not pushing any further, he didn't have to, at least not now, not in this instance because they both knew, they knew he spoke the truth. He'd solved her riddle, he called her as she was.

Worse however, he saw her as she was. In this moment, before him, wasn't the quick witted and sharped tongued vixen nor the bright eyed dreamer who lost hours to her books. No, before him stood a very familiar being, a reflection he knew well; a façade meant to protect, a wall built to hide what was most vulnerable from criticisms and judgement. A hedge of protection, to guard one from the fear and misunderstanding of others. A being, hiding from the one moniker it feared most, and the punishment such a name would bring. _You think you're the only one who's ever suffered? … -that you're some sort of monster-?_

Monster.

Maeve pivoted on her heal, turning away from him. She didn't want to see that look in his eyes, let him mock her, let him call her out of her name, rage against her, anything... anything but...

"Maeve."

"Fine, you won." She spat over her shoulder, stalling for only a moment as she cut her eyes at him, her eyes burning and her face just as fierce. "Stay, if you like. Or take your leave, I don't care. Congrats you won, do whatever you like. Like whatever I've had to say would ever stop you. But you can keep your pity, I will have none of it."

"Do not mistake me, I do not offer pity." He shot back, advancing on her, his own voice a hiss as he felt his temper flare at her misunderstanding.

"Liar!" Her voice was loud and sharp, like a clap of thunder. Whipping around to meet him they once again squared off. "Your eyes betray you. And so does your heart." As she spoke she drove her finger into his chest, just above his heart.

"Look again, for in your anger, I think you will find you are mistaken." His voice was low, Loki saw no reason to join her in a shouting match, and it would not aid things. He stood there, unmoving, not even to brush her hand away from his chest. "I know of your kind, though you have gone by many names I know of your kin, and what you are capable of. I know your abilities allow you a sort of sight, an intuition. Look again, you will find no pity there. I have had none for some time and I certainly have none for you."

Maeve continued to glare into his eyes for a moment longer, but his calm was starting to have an effect on her own temperament. That plus the fatigue her body was feeling, she did not have the strength to keep her temper going at the pace it was trying to set. A moment later she removed her hand, her shoulders sagging some but not in submission, but no longer geared for a fight. Maeve let her eyes drift shut, but even before they closed, she knew his words to be true. Letting out a sigh, she once again turned to take her leave of him.

"No, you are right. There is no pity there. The only pity you feel is for yourself." She felt a grip on her left wrist, causing her to pause and look back, down at the hand that held her there. It was a weak hold, easily broken, easily escapable, if she wanted to.

"Tell me, guardian; watcher, what do you see?" His face was still the same stoic mask it had been when their dance had begun, watching, waiting for a response. She didn't have to say anything, she didn't want to, didn't wish to. All she had to do was pull away, she could so easily get away, if she wanted to...

When she gave no answer, Loki let her go, only to take her in his arms a moment later. "What?" He looked at her, cutting off her protests before she could even begin them. "Would you rather I throw you over my shoulder? It's clear as day you are exhausted, do not squabble with me or I will be tempted to drop you and leave you in a heap on the floor."

"My how chivalrous of you." Her voice dripped in sarcasm but Maeve relaxed enough in his hold to no longer suggest she would fight it. With her settled, he started towards the guest bedroom. Turning he moved to push open the door with his shoulder, set to carry her in when the woman shifted.

"Wait." Loki stalled for a moment as he stared down at her, waiting for her explanation, his threat of dropping her should she continue earlier protests still at the fore front of his mind. "… I don't keep any of my clothes in there." When she finally looked up to meet his gaze, Maeve found Loki looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. After a moment scrutinizing her, his gaze left her face, traveling down the hallway, to the one room he'd yet to enter, before turning back to look at her once more.

Without another word, Loki took a moment to shift her in his hold, securing her better in his arms while still leaving her wounded arm free enough from discomfort before starting down the hallway. Once he reached her door, he paused, waiting. Waiting for...

"You can go in Loki." Her voice was low, had the house not already been quiet he might have missed it. Using his magic, he turned the latch and pushed the door open, carrying her through. Walking over to the large bed he gently settled her upon it. Turning away from him, Maeve reached for an oversize t shirt that was nestled under the pillows. Leaving her to her own devices, Loki turned to leave, only to feel a grip on his sleeve. His brow knit together as he turned to look back at the woman before him, holding her shirt in one hand, his sleeve in the other.

"I don't want pity." Loki moved, settling next to her on the bed, his eyes never once leaving hers.

"I do not offer pity."

"I know."

"...Do you then, accept what it is I do offer?" He hesitated, stealing himself just in case, after all old habits die hard. Old wounds...

"I do."

A passive flick of his, sent his magic somewhere behind him, to where the door to her room was, shutting it. Shutting out everything else, everyone else, leaving just them, just the two of them. Two beings, two... _Monsters_... _No._ He thought, not monsters, not her, not either of them.

As he rested his weight on one hand, he leaned in, cupping her face with the other. Holding her there as they continued to watch each other, all while the moon light played over their features. The cast of soft light causing a strange reflection in her oddly colored eyes, as they met and held the gaze of his green ones. Loki drank in the look of her as she sat there with him, watching him, committing everything about her to memory, before leaning in and capturing her lips in a kiss.

* * *

 _And there we have it, chapter 6, a long time coming but I certainly hope it was worth the wait. This chapter gave me some trouble but I'm happy to say that I was able to make it through all of the nit and grit, and hopefully made something that you all will enjoy as much as I do._

 _Also, as a bit of extra information on the readers part, so that you all can know what Loki, Maeve, and of course myself know; the long and short of it is that Maeve both is and isn't a werewolf. I based her off of two main ideas, the Faoladh, which are the Irish werewolf legends, where instead of being just crazed individuals turned vicious by the light of the moon, they are considered protectors and guardians of the lost, children, and etc. The second inspiration comes from the book Wolf Gift by Anne Rice (a book I highly recommend). Without spoiling anything major, the "werewolves" in the story have an ability to "sense" or "hear" peoples true intentions, both good and bad. This is the ability that Loki was referring to and that Maeve used in order to find Payton. It's these two ideas that I've merged together that will be the base of what Maeve actually is. I hope that makes everything clear, normally this is something that I would leave as exposition in the story, however it fit better to have someone as well read as Loki would be to already know what she was by the time he put the clues together, having her explain it out later would have been clunky, unnecessary and I feel would have bogged the story down._

 _Thanks again for all those who have been reviewing and saving me to their favorites list. It makes my heart happy to know my little story is making other people happy as well. :)_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Heavy.

When Maeve finally awoke that's all she could feel about her body, as though she were made of lead. Her eyelids slowly dragged open, but even before they cracked to let light in she knew she was alone. She lay there, on her stomach, in her bed completely and utterly alone. Not a sound in the house, not a sense of anything anywhere to alert her to another presence.

Sometime later, after staring at the wall long enough, Maeve finally moved, dragging herself from her bed to the bathroom. Flicking on the light she turned on the tub, setting it to fill with water hotter than any normal human would find reasonable. With great effort she pulled her shirt up and over her head, groaning as her muscles and joints complained. Casting it to the side she turned to find a hair tie or a comb, something to nest her hair on top of her head and keep it out of the way better; she was out of shower caps, she'd forgotten to grab some when she went to the store the other day...

Maeve shook her head at the errant thought of her grocery list. This always happened afterwards. The aching not so much but the fractured sense of self, her brain sifting through everything whether it was pertinent information or not. Looking up at herself, she caught her reflection in the mirror, her eyes falling on the dark mark on her right shoulder. Looking down at it, she gingerly reached out to touch it, gently prodding the bruised flesh with her fingers. The slug had ripped clean through, she'd felt it when it hit her, but it hadn't slowed her down, it never did. It would heal, just as other wounds had before it, this one however would take longer, she knew; it had been so long since she'd allowed herself to change. A small voice hissed in the back of her mind, if she'd done it more often, she wouldn't be this sore, this stiff, this scattered. This she knew, but she hadn't had a reason, for so long there hadn't been a cause for her to do it, but even she knew that wasn't completely true. She used to change for fun, it's why this place had been perfect, secluded enough that no one would ever see her, not that they ever did in more populated areas. It was also that it was quiet, quiet and far away from all of the voices, all of the need...

Turning away from the mirror Maeve moved towards the tub slowly lowering herself into the hot water, sighing as she sank in, her eyes drifting shut, as she let the warm water work its magic on her body.

Magic.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she thought back to last night. Snapshots coming to her, herself sat on her bed and _him_... Maeve sighed again, sinking lower, up to her chin in the water.

Loki.

He'd seen the wound, seen that she was favoring her arm. Neither of them had spoken after that kiss... that kiss... He'd reached out to touch her shoulder, slowly in case she'd pulled back, gently prodding it with his own fingers as his brows knit together in thought. All the while she watched him, watched his hand, watched as the tips of his fingers had turned blue then cold, so cold, effectively chilling the area and numbing the pain. Seemingly satisfied with his work, Maeve continued to watch as fine green tendrils left his fingertips, slipping from his hand and weaving their way around and through her skin. Of all the things she would have expected him to do last night, attempt to help her wasn't one of them. _Twice. He helped you twice._

Maeve let it go. He was gone now, and frankly she was too spent from last night to bother with caring at the moment. Not only had she fought Danny last night, but she'd fought herself; she held herself back. That side of her had called for justice, no, it had called for vengeance. How dare he do that to her friends, hurt them, how dare he take Payton- Maeve stopped herself. That line of thought would only serve to get her hackles up again, so to speak. She'd heard the sirens, heard the dogs and the police as they had come to the house after she'd already returned to the wood. He was their problem now.

Eventually she left the bath, groaning a little less as her tired body moved a little bit easier this time. She puttered through the rest of her routine on autopilot. Teeth, check, hair, check, clothes, check. Check, check, check. It wasn't long before she found herself in the kitchen, staring into the fridge. She pulled out bacon and eggs, some jam as well and some English muffins. A few minutes later she had a full and rather large breakfast going. It felt as though she hadn't eaten in days; the change took a lot out of her and it clearly showed as she cooked up the whole pack of bacon, it getting its own plate while six scrambled eggs and four jammed and buttered English muffins sat on their own.

Settling at the counter, Maeve dug in. Halfway through the eggs a weak chirp caught her attention. Her cellphone was still on the counter where she'd left it the night before. Picking it up she eyed its low battery life, rummaging around in one of the counter drawers until she found her spare charger, plugging it in. A slew of missed calls and voice mails greeted her, many of which she promptly deleted without even listening to. As she began to tackle the text messages one in particular caught her eye, it was from Jake. Jake never texted, he hated it, saying he preferred to hear an actual voice when talking to someone. Her thumb hovered over the little icon, debating whether or not to press it when a knock came to her door. Leaving the phone and the rest of her breakfast behind, Maeve made her way over to the front door. It was probably Frank coming to check on her.

Opening the door she found two men, neither of them Frank. Through her fog, Maeve managed to gather that they were officers, detectives, specifically the ones from the hospital yesterday. She remembered them, they'd been speaking with Jake when Babs had asked for her, before she'd stormed out, before Frank had taken her home, before...

"Miss?"

Maeve pressed her eyes together trying to get herself to focus. When she opened her eyes again they focused, or attempted to, on the two men who now sat opposite of her at her small dining table. She must have moved things...

"I'm sorry," she sighed, pressing her hands into her eyes, before casting a weary look back at the two men. "My brain is everywhere. You were saying?"

"We understand that this has been a trying time for you and your friend ma'am. We just have a few questions that we'd like to clear up with you and then we can be on our way and out of your hair." The younger of the two smiled at her, his brow wrinkled ever so slightly, showing what appeared to be genuine concern. The older one, on the other hand, seemed annoyed with how unfocused she was.

"Yes of course, questions. Anything that I can do to help."

"The night of the incident, you were one of the last people to be with the victim and her son?" He asked easing into the questions for what Maeve assumed was the second time.

"Yes." Maeve began, her brow scrunching together. "Babs and I, we were having a get together, a small celebration, she ended up dubbing it 'Ladies Night' while we were out."

"A celebration?"

"In more than one way, yes. Celebrating her and Payton's upcoming future, her career was, is, advancing, she's planning on moving her and Payton to the city with her new job. It's a fresh start for them, leaving everything else behind."

"Like, Mr. Crestwood." The older detective interjected.

"Yeah, like Danny." The edge in her voice didn't go unnoticed by the two men, who shared a look.

"I see, so she was out with you and Payton was-"

"Payton was with his godfather, Jake, whom you've already talked to." Maeve had let her eyes drift shut for a moment, to try and not only refocus her mind, but to put more of a leash on her obvious distaste of Danny. But at the question hidden within the one the young detective had begun to ask, her eyes snapped open and focused in on him. "Jake came to pick me up after he'd already gotten Payton and Babs, like I said, we were having a 'Ladies Night' so she arranged for them to have a 'Boys Night', Jake took Payton to the theater for a double feature. But I'm sure you already know that what with having spoken to Jake yesterday."

"Yes, we're just going over everything with everyone ma'am." The young detective shifted and offered her a smile, but Maeve could sense his nervousness from her change in tone and zeroed in gaze. The older detective on the other hand, she could feel his dislike for the edge in her tone, no matter how faint it had been.

"So this 'night out', you mind telling us what all that entailed?" It was the older detectives turn apparently now.

"Jake dropped us off at the restaurant. We ate, talked about stuff, life; sat around finishing our drinks then paid and headed out. She wanted to go see about this new dance place down the street."

"Drinks?"

"Yes, mostly soda, Babs may have had one or two at the restaurant. Small ones. Why?" Maeve and the older man locked eyes, she didn't care for his tone.

"We've had a few witnesses attest to seeing her quite intoxicated on her way out of the restaurant last night." The young detective offered.

"'Witnesses?' You mean Ethan Cooper and his friends? Hardly, Babs slipped because she stepped on black ice in her ridiculous shoes, it had nothing to do with her being drunk. And what does that have to do with anything anyway? She didn't do anything wrong here, did she? Look Babs will be the first to tell you that she's done some stupid shit in the past, but she'd never do anything as senseless as getting drunk around Payton. Especially not after what Danny put them through." The two shared another look before the younger one took the reins this time.

"What was your relationship with Mr. Crestwood?"

"There wasn't one." Maeve huffed.

"'Wasn't'?"

"I never liked Danny. Not back in college, not now, never have never will." At her admission the older man raised an eyebrow, studying her for a moment.

"What were your whereabouts last night?"

"Excuse me?" Maeve raised an eyebrow right back.

"It's just a formality ma'am," the young detective interjected. "Just need a statement."

"Why?" She already knew why, but Maeve was playing a delicate game of chess at this point. They couldn't know what she knew, or how much she knew. They clearly already had their suspicions about her based on their attitude alone.

"I'll be frank with you Miss, Daniel Crestwood is currently in the hospital, hooked up and in a medically induced coma because of wounds he sustained last night. This after we spoke with his ex at the hospital who was adamant that he was in fact involved though there was no evidence to support such a claim, a conversation that took place after you'd had a chance to speak with her and stormed out of the hospital and disappeared."

"And you think I did it? That I attacked Danny?"

"We've heard you're known to have quite the temper," the older detective's brows lowered over his eyes, a frown creasing his face. If he was hoping to intimidate Maeve it wasn't working, not that his current countenance wasn't intimidating, just not to her. After all, much like she had said to Loki, being the most dangerous thing in the room did that to a person. "We've also heard that you have a very vocal dislike of Mr. Crestwood. So you can see the spot we're in when you're last seen storming off and he's found beaten to a pulp."

"And you think _I_ did it?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Here."

"And is there anyone that can corroborate that?" The two detectives watched her as Maeve stared back at them, watching the two of them before answering. _Well of course there is, but you see he's a demigod and, much like herding cats, it seems to be difficult to keep him in one specific spot._ Just as she went to answer, a door closing somewhere behind her caught all of their attention.

"I didn't realize you were up, or that you had guests." They all turned to see Loki, walking towards her from the other side of the living room, as though he'd just stepped out of the guest room. At least it looked like Loki. His hair was swept back out of his face and he had donned a knit sweater and trousers, both black and well fitted, as though they'd been tailor made to fit him. _They probably have been._ He approached them, his hands behind his back, until he came to stand next to Maeve, resting a hand on her shoulder as he glanced down at her, his green eyes meet her odd ones for just a moment before turning back to the two men sitting across from her. "Gentlemen, morning."

"They're not guests. They're detectives." Maeve began after the subtle squeeze on her shoulder from Loki, though she continued to watch him for a moment longer. He hadn't been here this morning, she was certain, as disconnected and out of sorts as she had felt upon waking, she knew she would have heard him, sensed him, in the house had he been lurking about, but there had been nothing. So why-

"Oh, so you're here about that young boy and his mother then? Have you found him yet?" it took all her mental strength to keep her confusion from showing on her face as she watched Loki's crease with what actually looked like genuine concern and worry.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" The younger detective seemed to be still baffled by Loki's appearance, so the eldest spoke up.

Loki cast a glance down at her giving her a soft grin, his fingers subtly prodding her to snap out of it, all the while avoiding her injury. "It looks like the cat's out of the bag so to speak, love."

 _'Love'?_ "He's my boyfriend." Maeve said turning back to face the two men who now both looked completely gob-smacked, though the elder detective recovered faster.

"Funny, we've not heard anything about you, from anyone else."

"I'm a private person." Maeve cut in with an explanation before Loki had the chance to answer, much like she had the other night with Babs when they'd run into Ethan. She didn't know why, but once again the words just began pouring from her mouth. "I don't care for people knowing a lot of my personal business. We hadn't been 'official' long enough, in my mind, for me to want to say anything. Plus, this is a small town, people run their mouths off and gossip horribly, imagine how terrible it would get once it got out that an unwed young woman, with no roommate, had a man over. Half this town would die of scandal." The younger detective managed to suppress most of his chuckle, hiding it as a cough, while the other merely looked on, seemingly not completely convinced as he looked Loki up and down.

"And you got here just last night?"

"No, no. I've been here a few weeks now." Loki answered with an easy smile.

"I suppose that means you'll be leaving soon?"

"Not at all. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have many things tying me down at the moment. I needed some time away from, family and such business, Maeve was kind enough to offer up her abode as a place to stay." As he spoke Loki turned his gaze back to her, setting her with a look that could easily pass for smitten. Her brain balked at the idea. Loki? The demi god of mischief, smitten? Certainly not a word she would have ever suggested described him, even as his hand left her shoulder and gently tucked an errant curl behind her ear, before lightly caressing her cheek. _What is he doing?_

"About young Payton though? Have you been able to find him yet?"

"Yes," the young detective seemed to finally have regained all of his wits about him again. "The boy is safe, I believe he may even be visiting with his mother in the hospital currently."

"When were you going to tell me?" Maeve's attention snapped back on to the two men. "I know I'm not 'family' technically, but other than Payton, Jake and I are all that Babs really has out here. When were you going to tell me you found him? Before or after you accused me of whatever happened to Danny?"

"Now, love, they're just doing their job." Loki's voice sounded soothing, as it moved behind her; he moved to take a seat to her left, then took her left hand, clasping it between both of his before giving it a squeeze and flashing her a grin.

"If we could get back to our initial question; where were you last night?"

"I told you, I was here."

"And can anyone confirm that?" The older detective continued on, before casting a glance at Loki. "Anyone other than... I'm sorry what did you say your name was again?"

"Loki." He stated simply before Maeve could answer, only grinning when the two detectives fixed him with odd looks.

"Loki? Like the Norse god?" The younger one asked, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"One and the same." Loki merely flashed him a grin. "For what it's worth gentlemen, I can say that she was here with me the whole night. She may have blustered out of the hospital like a right storm, but by the time she was dropped off here she'd lost all of her wind, so to speak. Though she was still in a right state, it wasn't until the wee hours of the morning that I was finally able to get her calm enough to sleep, wracked with worry she was."

"So it's over then? Payton's safe." It took all her strength to tear her eyes away from Loki, the soft caress of his thumb moving back and forth on her knuckles wasn't helping either. That coupled with her brain still being foggy from the change last night...

"Well there's still an ongoing investigation. But once everything is completely settled you'll be informed. Of course, should anything new arise, or we have any more questions, we will be in touch." the young detective explained as the pair began gathering themselves up to take their leaving, seemingly satisfied with the answers they received, for now.

"Wait." Maeve stood up stepping in front of them, not to block their way, so much as to just get their attention. "Please, you have to tell me, where was he? Where'd you find him?" She was surprised when she saw the older detective shift and his features softened. It must have been the combination of what she'd told him and Loki's tale that changed something in his mind before he spoke.

"It was a 911 call. Somehow the little boy managed to get a hold of a phone when he'd been left alone and they were able to track the call and find him. It would seem that Mr. Crestwood had an old acquaintance, he'd taken Payton there with the intention of leaving the next day. She was unaware of what had transpired, she claimed as much when they found them. She was carried into the hospital along with Mr. Crestwood and Mr. Cooper-"

"Cooper?" Maeve interrupted. "Ethan was there?"

"No," the younger detective interjected. "It was the younger brother, Chris. Seems like he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's doing well, last we had heard he'd woken up and was appearing to be on the mend in the hospital." The young man continued when he saw Maeve start to launch into a new set of questions. He paused for a moment, curiosity creasing his features for a moment. "The others weren't in touch with you about Mr. Cooper? Nor that Payton was found?"

"I don't know." Maeve offered, before gesturing at her phone on the counter. "My phone was dead this morning. I haven't seen or heard anything. I was actually just about to check it when you knocked.

Appearing satisfied the two men made their way out, assuring Maeve that they would be back in touch should they have any more information or questions needing to be clarified. After what seemed like hours, they were finally gone, Maeve rested her head against the door after having bolted it.

"I must say, that was quite the performance." Loki's voice cut through the silence that had filed the house after the detective's car had pulled out the driveway.

"I could say the same for you. _'Love'_?" She turned to look at him, her suspicion evident on her face as she watched him. Pushing away from the door she moved forward, but gave him a wide birth as she did so. "What was all of that about anyway? Getting me to bed in the 'wee hours', ' _love_ ', all the... touching!?" Maeve made a general gesture with her hands, before pointing towards the door. "Now those two think I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend who just claimed he was still going to be here, but probably won't and I won't have any idea of where to tell them to get in touch with you if they have any more questions for you as I'm pretty sure their office doesn't have a connection to Asgard!"

In her rant she had moved closer, still keeping a comfortable and safe distance between her and Loki. Or at least she thought it'd been safe, until he darted forward. She easily avoided his first grab at her, but his second was successful at which point he once again had her flat on her back, pinned on the couch, glaring up at him, a smug and confident grin on his face.

"Oh, my dear woman," he crooned, lowering his face towards hers. "Firstly, spinning a believable tale is but one of my most noted skills, someone who claims to have studied me so intensely must surely know that. I did not gain the moniker of 'Silver Tongue' for just any reason. And secondly," his grin became almost wolfish as his eyes sparkled with mischief. "I am not the one who claimed title of 'boyfriend', you were the one who bestowed that. It's almost curious enough to make one wonder, why?"

"Oh really, as if that wasn't what you were hinting at. What would you have gone with then?"

"The truth."

"Oh? And that would be?"

"Why, _lover_ , obviously." His grin spread as he pressed his hips against hers. Loki chuckled darkly as he watched a fire light up behind her eyes, the corners of her mouth tugging downward. "You can try and deny it all you want, but our... escapade the other night would more than suffice as evidence."

"A one night stand, does not constitute the title of 'lover'." Maeve shot back, beginning to squirm in an attempt to get from under him.

"Ah, yes. I forget you mortals have some strange customs in regards to bedding one another."

"Oh, come off it, with your high horse nonsense." Maeve hissed, glaring at him. " 'Oh, you humans' this, 'oh, you mortals,' that. How many women have you slept with hmmm? Stomping around here, professing constantly how you're a god and in need of being worshipped, how you used to be worshipped. Just go on, tell me, what's the mighty King of Mischief's number huh? You can take all that high and mighty bull and shove it up your a-" Maeve let out a pained gasp, tears stinging her eyes. In her attempt to wrench herself free from his hold on her, she'd twisted in a way that had upset her shoulder, causing a sharp bolt of pain to shoot through the right side of her body.

Loki's brow furrowed as he watched her, releasing her hands a moment later as he sat back, before completely withdrawing from her, moving to one side of the couch, leaving her to pull away and skootch towards the other. Slowly sitting up Maeve cradled her arm gently massaging her shoulder.

"Those detectives suspected you of harming that man. You needed an alibi, I gave you one." He now sat there, his hand resting on his chin, as he refused to look at her; sitting there on her couch as if him being there was nothing at all. There was no taunting in his voice, instead he sounded almost completely detached, clinical. Maeve wasn't sure which version of him she disliked more, as she pulled more into her own corner.

"Distance would have been my alibi. Even if I'd left after Frank dropped me off, I wouldn't have made it there and back with enough time to hide having done anything to Danny. Not with how the roads work, not without them catching me driving back. Now I'll have to explain a boyfriend who just conveniently appeared and the disappeared once you're gone." Hearing him shift, Maeve cast a tired glance over to him, watching him scrutinize her.

"Oh, please. We both know you're leaving. You've got your map, you've got your way home. You've made it abundantly clearly that you hate it here, that you detest Midgard and its people; just take your map and go."

Loki watched her for a moment longer before turning back to the window. "No."

"'No'? 'No' what?"

"I will be remaining here."

"What-?! Why!"

"Because it is my boon."

"Your... boon?"

"Yes," he stated rather matter-of-factly. "I solved your riddle, by your own words I am allowed to stay." Maeve grew quiet. After a moment Loki could hear the couch creak as she shifted, and her light footsteps as she padded away from him, heading off to her bedroom. He didn't follow. A moment later he heard her bedroom door shut, a minute later, the sound of water rushing through the pipes, she was drawing a bath again it seemed. Sighing he lightly rubbed the bridge of his nose.

 _What? Did you think after last night that something had changed? That somehow you were both on an equal plane? That two monsters-_ Loki silenced the voice in his head. He was no monster. Pushing himself up from the couch he made his way in to the back of the house, following the path she'd taken, stopping, much like he had the night before, at her closed door; hesitating, waiting to enter. He stood there waiting, again unsure of why; he could hear shuffling from behind the door, though the water was running it seemed she hadn't gone in to the bath just yet. Then he heard it, though soft and muffled, he could make out the sound just the same, the sound of her crying from the other side of the door. Loki took a step back, then turned on his heel heading to the guest room, where he promptly shut himself in.

 _Monster, indeed._

Maeve heard his footsteps approach and then retreat, and she found that she didn't care. Gathering her things she once again settled herself into the steaming hot tub, shutting herself in to her bathroom, not caring about anything or anyone else. Pulling her knees up to her chest she let herself sob again as she sat there in the water.

 _Feeling sorry for yourself never did anyone any good._ A voice called from somewhere in the back of her mind. But she found she didn't care about its criticisms. Not when she already had her own to wade through. Honestly what had she thought would happen? She'd taken Babs advice and look what had come of it, she'd listened to that voice, that gut feeling inside of her telling her to go, to let go, and she had and it had just ended up failing her. It hadn't led her astray in finding Payton, her sense had taken her straight there without any second guessing or hesitation; but when it came to things like this, like Loki, no, it would seem it was wrong, all wrong. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

He'd been right, in a way, that day he had mocked her, claimed that she lived out here because there was something wrong with her. She wished to be alone because it was easier, not just being free from being exposed to all the voices, all the sounds of those in need, or even just those walking by on the street; nor the urge to "hunt", to help, to seek out wickedness and deal out its just due. No, she hid herself away up here, not only to keep herself safe from the monster hunters, but also from herself, from having to be vulnerable with anyone ever again. For it seemed every time she tried she simply got hurt, worse and worse. And now... after Bab's... maybe a part of her thought that someone, someone like him, someone who seemed to have a similar hurt... No. It seemed not even the likes of Loki could understand. And as she sank deeper into the tub, Maeve found herself feeling more alone than she had in a long time. _

 _Hello all, long time no post. Things have been a bit all over the place but I got a new chapter up and in the end that's all that matters right? I hope you enjoy, as always please feel free to let me know what you think. Here's hoping I'll have the next chapter out in less time than this one hmm? :)_


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